PREPARE FOR LAUNCH

The Astronaut Training Process

Erik Seedhouse

To be an astronaut is the dream of thousands of young - and not so young - people. But is the life as glamorous as we think it is?

First, each applicant must navigate a protracted application and selection process, submit to lengthy medicals, take dozens of aptitude tests, and face an interview panel. If successful, the wannabe spacefarer is then subjected to a gauntlet of instruction. From being strapped into centrifuges to experiencing microgravity onboard NASA's aptly named 'vomit comet,' the astronaut candidate's (Ascan) training is as relentless as it is arduous. In addition to covering more than two hundred classroom subjects, an Ascan will complete over fifteen hundred hours of instruction, including training in high-performance jets, sea survival, emergency evacuation preparation, and surgery in microgravity.

Prepare for Launch provides a unique insight into the astronaut application, selection, and training process. It chronicles the intense, highly technical and sophisticated training necessary to forge a flight crew capable of responding to any conceivable emergency and capable of expertly executing hundreds of mission tasks.

This book uniquely explores the preparation required to apply and train for the most challenging and demanding job in the world.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
About the author
List of figures
List of tables
List of panels
List of abbreviations and acronyms

PART I Astronaut selection
1. A brief history of NASA astronaut selection
2. Applying to become an astronaut
3. Selection

PART II Preparing for life in space
4. Astronaut probationary training
5. Technical assignments
6. Types of missions
7. Mission training
8. Astronaut selection and training in the future

PART III Preparing for launch
9. The spacecraft and the launch team
10. Ten weeks and counting
11. The final count

Index

Extent: 280 pages, 16-page colour section
Binding: Paperback
Published: 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4419-1349-4

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