You’ve sent your astronaut application to
NASA, and now all you can do is wait. Months go by without a response. Then one day, you open
your mailbox to find an envelope with the red, white, and blue NASA logo on it. You rip
it open and unfold the letter. As you skim the typed words on the page, your heart
stops. “Congratulations,” the letter says, “you’ve been accepted into the
astronaut training program.” You shout in joy as you scramble to pack
your bags and head to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Although you know that
astronaut training will be challenging, you have no idea how brutal the next two
years will actually be. Buckle up because you’re about to learn everything
you need to know to go to space. Day 0 of space training. You are on a flight to Houston as you read
through the materials you submitted to NASA in your application. You had to work
incredibly hard just to get this far, and even with all of the work you put in, your
chances of actually being accepted were pretty slim. In order to apply, you had to prove you
were a U.S. citizen using your birth certificate, social security card, or naturalization
documents if you recently gained citizenship. You have been in school for most of your life
because the only way to even be considered into the NASA astronaut training program is by
having a master’s degree or higher in one of the STEM fields. You know other candidates
who applied had degrees in engineering, biology, computer science, and mathematics. Your
background is in physics and astronomy. It’s been your dream to become an astronaut since you were
a little child. You had those glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to your bedroom ceiling as a
child and still have them even as an adult. You just graduated with your master’s in
physics and started working at a research institution where you put your degree to
the test. Without at least two years of related professional experience in your field,
NASA would have thrown your application in the trash. Your timing was perfect as NASA only opens
the application process about every four years. In 2013 NASA had more than 6,000 applicants,
and only 8 were selected. In 2017, more than 18,300 people applied to become
astronauts, and only 11 made it through the program. You have already beaten the odds,
but the challenges aren’t over quite yet The plane's wheels hit the tarmac;
you are shaken back to the present. Tomorrow will be your first day
of astronaut training. However, what the instructors have in store may mean
your first day could also be your last. Day 1 of space training. You are put through a series of examinations
to make sure that you meet all of the physical requirements to be an astronaut. Some things
are out of your control, but others you’ve been preparing for for years to ensure you
make it to the next round of tests. First, the doctor takes your measurements and vitals.
You fit into the appropriate height range of between 62 and 75 inches. Spacecraft
are not designed to accommodate anyone who is extremely tall, and therefore NASA will
reject candidates solely based on this factor. You are told to stand on a black line and read
the letters from a poster on the far wall. You struggle to read the last line and are afraid that
your time in the astronaut training programs has come to a premature end. The doctor hands you
a pair of glasses that modifies your eyesight, giving you 20/20 vision. They take a note on their
clipboard and send you to the next test. You must have 20/20 vision to be an astronaut, but glasses
are acceptable if needed to correct your eyesight. Next, your blood pressure is taken.
It read 120/80, which is normal for an adult. As long as it is below 140/90,
you are good to go. The doctors draw blood to run further tests and check your other
vitals. You appear to be in tip-top shape, so they sign off on your physical and send
you across the hall for your psych evaluation. You are given a series of tests to see how
well you cope with stress. Working in space comes with all kinds of challenges,
especially in the cramped confines of a space capsule or space station.
After the doctor is done with you, they send you to another room where several
other astronaut candidates are waiting. You are asked to work together to solve a series
of complex puzzles while NASA employees in white labcoats observe your behavior and
how well you collaborate with others. They will generate a psychological profile for
you which may play a part in deciding your role in future missions. This is especially important
as NASA plans the future of space exploration. On longer missions back to the moon, it is
important that astronauts can spend long periods of time in cramped quarters with one
another. But psych profiles will play an even more critical role during long-haul missions to
Mars that could last for months or even years. The NASA scientists also take note of who
has strong leadership and communication skills. If you can’t work well with
others, you will be asked to leave, and your dream of becoming an
astronaut will be over forever. Day 2 of space training. You sit in a room all day taking aptitude tests
to ensure you are able to handle the course load that will be coming your way. In fact, for the
first several months of your space training, you will be stuck in a classroom. This
is not only mandatory but necessary as there is a lot of knowledge that you
need to learn to ensure you can handle yourself in space and operate all of
the machinery that will get you there. Day 3 of space training. You wake up early and head to the pool for
a series of drills to make sure you have the endurance to continue on in the program. You
must complete several military training exercises to show you are capable of surviving even in
the most extreme circumstances. If you aren’t already scuba certified, you will be required
to get your certification. You will also need to take survival courses, which will provide you with
vitally important skills in dangerous situations. But for right now, you are just being tested
on your ability to swim and tread water. You dive into the chilly pool and begin moving
your arms and legs back and forth to keep your head above water. You must do this
for ten minutes to pass. Once that’s done, you swim three lengths of the 25-meter pool
without stopping. You can do all this with your arms tied behind your back, but the
hardest part is yet to come. You are told to get out of the pool, where several people
are waiting for you holding a flight suit. You put on the uniform and zip it up. The
instructor tells you to dive back in and swim three more lengths of the pool wearing the baggy
flight suit and tennis shoes. There is no time limit for this test, but it is incredibly hard.
You struggle to drag your body through the water; it takes much longer than your initial three
laps. By the end of it, you’re gasping for air. You lay on the pool deck staring up at the metal
ceiling. You’ll definitely sleep well tonight. Day 4 of space training: You are put through a series of other
tests such as long-distance running, weight lifting, and speed courses. Your
results for each one are recorded and put with your application. You are doing well
so far, but you haven’t really started your astronaut training yet. These tests were just
to make sure NASA wasn’t wasting their time on you. Once you are deemed physically
and mentally fit, the real work begins. Day 5 of space training: You sit in a classroom with a handful of
other cadets. Everyone in the room has an advanced degree in their field. You were so used
to always being the smartest person in the room, but here you are only average. Over the next
several months, this will be your home, and the other candidates will be your family. You will
take 16 different technical courses to familiarize yourself with the equipment, procedures, and
science that will allow you to go to space. These courses will cover subjects
like navigation, system control, payload delivery, and a plethora of mathematics.
On top of the technical courses are science and engineering classes that you must pass.
Each course is harder than the last, and the teachers are tough but fair. They can’t
allow anyone to move on who can’t grasp the basics in the classroom. You are also required
to take public speaking as you will need to have clear communication skills when talking to flight
control, the other crew members, and the public. Other classes, such as introduction to cultures, are also mandatory. It is here where
you will learn basic information about other countries that have people aboard the
International Space Station. As an astronaut, you will not just be working alongside other NASA
personnel but with people from around the world. Day 10 of space training. You have
been in the classroom all day, every day. Before you head home for the night,
your instructor hands you a pile of manuals and case studies. Along with your coursework, you
are required to read and review these as well. Day 20 of space training.
You’re still in the classroom. Day 90 of space training. Your back hurts from
sitting through lectures for hours every day. Your eyes will barely stay open as you study all night.
But all this hard work is about to pay off. It is time to begin training on basic simulators. It is
not the most exciting part of astronaut training, but it will definitely be nice to break up
the monotonous routine of classwork every day. You sit in front of a computer and run
through simulations on propulsion and docking. The program is a little clunky as it
hasn’t been updated in a while. But then again, NASA funding has been diminishing ever since the
space race, so it is probably more important what money they do have goes towards space exploration.
You continue through a series of simulations based on different scenarios. Sometimes everything
goes according to plan, and other times, you have to think fast to solve problems
that could potentially be life-threatening. As you sit staring at the computer screen,
one of your instructors comes in with a VR headset. “Try this,” they say. NASA is moving
into the future and using virtual reality for some of its training. You put on the visor
and gloves. A virtual world appears in front of you. It looks exactly like the cockpit
of the space capsule you toured during your first week at the Johnson Space Center.
You reach out and touch the flight stick. Although you can’t physically touch anything,
it seems like you’re actually there. You run through a series of programs with the
ability to look around and see each part of the cockpit. You fly the capsule
out of the atmosphere and put it into orbit around Earth. As you look out of the
cockpit window, you marvel at the detail that was put into the simulation. You were
starting to get worn down from all the work, but this renews your vigor. It just reaffirms
that you want nothing more than to go to space. Day 100 of space training. You are still in
basic training but now things are starting to get good. Today is the day you will meet
your mentor. You didn’t get much sleep last night as you thought about all of the incredible
men and women who have been to space. They are the best of the best, and you will be paired
with one of them for the next several months. Your mentor shows you the ropes in different
simulators. They give you tips and help you understand the systems in detail as you
practice on exact replicas of the space capsules. You sit in mock cockpits where
you and your mentor run through checklist after checklist to make sure you know
exactly what every button and knob does. Every training exercise is done over and over
again until it becomes second nature to you. After you get the basics, your mentor starts throwing
you curveballs. As you run through the checklist, they tell you that one of the sensors has stopped
working, and you need to bypass it. You use all of your skills and extensive knowledge gained
through your coursework to solve each problem. Day 150 of space training. You smile as you
look up at the giant contraption in front of you. You finally have gotten to the point
where you will be able to control an actual flight simulator. This movable contraption
will put you in the cockpit of your space capsule and allow you to run through different
scenarios as if you were actually in space. You start with prelaunch checklists. Everything
is a go, and you begin your first simulated launch. You look at the screen as your simulator
clears the atmosphere. You run through the same simulation over and over again. The instructors
watch as you and your crew maneuver through the different problems they throw at you. Sometimes
there is a huge gust of wind that blows you off course as you ascend; other times, there
is a malfunction in one of the engines, and you have to adjust. You crash a handful of
times, but that is what the simulator is for. It is most certainly better to crash in the simulator
than to crash for real while strapped to a rocket. Day 175 of space training. When you get to
the Johnson Space Center today with the rest of the astronaut recruits, your instructors are
waiting for you with huge grins on their faces. You look at your fellow classmates a little
nervously. This can’t be good, you think. You are loaded up onto a bus and
driven towards the airfield not too far from the space center. Waiting
on the tarmac is a modified Boeing 727. You had been both looking forward to and
dreading this day since you started the program. You are about to take your
first ride aboard the vomit comet. You climb aboard the plane and strap in. The
whole fuselage has been covered in padding, and there are only a few seats. Once up in
the air, the 727 climbs at a steep angle and then curves down, essentially freefalling
towards the surface of the Earth. The plane then pulls up and ascends again only to plummet
back towards the ground once again after it reaches the right altitude. This wavy flight
path, also known as a series of parabolas, causes you and the other astronaut
cadets on board to become weightless. The vomit comet got its name because this type of flight path can be disorienting and
can lead to vertigo and nausea. That is why there are always barf bags handy.
It is terrifying but also thrilling. Plus, it is a good way to prepare you for what
it will be like to be weightless in space. Day 200 of space training. Today will be your
first day doing a spacewalk underwater. Your group of recruits has lost a few members
over the past months for various reasons. Some couldn’t keep up with the amount of work,
while others decided this wasn’t the right path for them. The select few that made it through the
application process have now become even fewer. Your team suits up in real spacesuits
inside of The Sonny Carter Training Facility. It is here where at the bottom
of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, sits an exact replica of different
sections of the space station and a space capsule. You will be put underwater to
simulate the zero-gravity of space by being neutrally buoyant. It is not a perfect
simulation, but it is pretty close. This will allow you and your team to experience
what it will feel like to be on a spacewalk and make repairs. It is a slow and cumbersome process.
The oxygen pumped into your suit smells stale, and you will be working underwater for hours.
There is a dive team to help you around, but once you get to work, you’re on your own. You carry
tools on your suit’s belt that you use to tighten bolts and screws. You are responsible for swapping
out old parts for new ones while also being in constant communication with the rest of the
crewmembers and the instructors at the surface. Sometimes the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
needs to be outfitted with replicas of other objects in orbit around our planet
that need to be worked on. For example, in 2009, the final of 5 missions to fix
the Hubble Space Telescope was launched. The astronauts had trained in the pool on
an exact replica of the telescope so that while in space, they could be as prepared
as possible for what they would need to do. Once you’ve completed all of the
tasks at the bottom of the pool, it is time to ascend. You slowly rise
to the surface and are pulled out of the pool. You’re tired, your muscles
ache, and you really have to pee. Day 200 of space training. Less of your
days are now spent in the classroom, and you are doing more work in the simulators.
You are still required to take classes, but the bulk of the coursework is now over. Every
day is something new. You might be in the flight simulator, but a different scenario is thrown
at you to test your critical thinking skill. There are a number of different simulators. Some
are fixed-based and more like playing a video game than anything else. Others are motioned-based
and actually move. These are sometimes used for payload operations and deployments. You practice
different maneuvers to make sure that you can line up the capsule with docking bays without knocking
either yourself or the space station off course. Everything done in space is a delicate process.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction; this includes any mistakes you make
while in the unforgiving environment of space. Day 365 of space training. You’ve made
it through your first year of astronaut training. Now you are ready to move
into advanced training. This will not necessarily be harder than
what you already went through, but it will be more focused on the specific
duties and missions you might be assigned to. Using the motion-based simulators, your
training exercises now cover entire missions from start to finish. You sit on
a simulated Cape Canaveral launch pad. As you look out the video screen windows, you see
an animated bird fly by. The countdown begins, and you launch towards space. You have to make
minor adjustments by pushing a few buttons, but everything goes according to plan. The International Space Station appears on
your viewport. You move the flight stick slightly to align your capsule’s hatch with
the docking bay. With each flick of your wrist, the entire simulator moves slightly. Other
than not being completely weightless, you feel like you’re actually
there. After successfully docking, you unclamp and return to Earth. The capsule
enters the atmosphere, the parachute deploys, and you watch the screen as you slowly approach
the computer-generated ocean. Mission complete. Day 500 of space training. You have
officially been assigned to go on a mission to the International Space Station
and conduct research. This means most of your days are split between the flight
simulator, the laboratory, and the replica of the International Space Station. NASA has
created an exact copy of the capsule you’ll be working in so that you can plan out your
experiments. But it is not all fun and games; you are also practicing other important
skills that we take for granted here on Earth. Without gravity, things like meal prepping,
equipment storage, and trash management become much more difficult. Although you can’t
practice these skills in zero-gravity, being able to do them easily on Earth
in a replica of a space capsule before having to do them for real in
space is extremely beneficial. Another difficulty in space is that there
is very little friction meaning that items don’t experience drag. Once an object is
put in motion, it will continue its motion until it runs into something else. This can
obviously be dangerous with things like metal tools aboard a spacecraft. Therefore, you
practice moving objects at the Precision Air-Bearing Floor lab where NASA has created a
space to simulate a frictionless environment. The way it works at the JPL-designed facility
is that compressed air is used to allow objects to float just above the surface of the
floor. This isn’t how it works in space, but it does create a similar phenomenon. When
you push an object in this lab, it keeps moving as it would in zero-gravity. This allows you and
the other recruits to practice passing things to one another. There will be times tools and
equipment will overshoot their destination and stop at the edge of the frictionless
floor, but that is what the training is for. Day 600 of space training. Since you will be
working aboard the International Space Station, you are sent halfway around the world to
meet and train with other astronauts who will be joining you aboard the ISS. You go to
Canada and Japan to conduct several training exercises at facilities in those countries. You
brush up on your Japanese and Russian as it is always helpful to be able to communicate
in multiple ways if something goes wrong. Some of this work can be done through video
chats, but it would be extremely dangerous to send a bunch of people to the space station
without having them meet first. Even if you aren’t 100% compatible with everyone on the
mission, you at least need to get to know their quirks. Your training has prepared
you for almost every situation imaginable, but no amount of training is as good
as being able to trust your crewmates. Day 730 of space training.
You’ve done it. About two years after you received the letter of acceptance
from NASA into the astronaut training program, you finish your final coursework and all
requirements to become an astronaut. The only thing left to do is go to space. For the
past two years, you have lived and breathed NASA. You have barely seen your friends
and family as the coursework and studying consumed your life. But this was your dream,
and now you are officially done with training. In a few months, you will board a space capsule
that sits on top of a rocket made by a privately owned company. Luckily NASA is starting to
move away from using Russian rockets to get their astronauts to space and relying on American
companies like SpaceX and Boeing. This means you will likely be seated aboard a reusable rocket
that will deliver you to space and return to the landing pad to be used again. Your two
years of space training has paid off as you are about to become one of the select few that
can proudly call themselves NASA astronauts. Now watch “50 Insane Facts About
International Space Station You Didn't Know.” Or check out “What
Would Happen To Your Body In Space?”
