ASTRONAUT TRAINERS – instructing the Best of the Best

23.11.2011

In the last ESA candidate selection far more than 8.000 candidates have given their best ...

... to get hold of one of the six astronauts training seats, to become incorporated into the exclusive group of astronauts.

What kind of skills do they have to show to get elected? Do they have to be test pilots and sports aces, super heroes, looking fearlessly into the face of danger and fight? No, in the early days of the great space adventure it might perhaps have been like this, but today astronauts are mostly scientists, doctors and pilots, of course the best of the best, exceptionally intelligent and gifted with special abilities, of normal health and strength, polite and rather strikingly humorous people.

And that's no accident. From the experience of many orbital missions a set of requirements has been established, after which an astronaut must have three main qualities in a high degree: teamwork ability, responsibility and stress resistance. And then he or she needs a lot of motivation and patience: after the 2 years of training for the general ability of an astronaut, it may be years to come until for the first time a specific mission will be assigned to the trainee, as a member of a future regular team aboard the International Space Station.

Then, finally, the real challenge will start: a good two years of intensive training. Experienced trainers prepare the astronaut newcomers systematically for its tasks in space. They cannot put the training focus on practicing each task long enough to perform it while sleeping; there are just far too many possible tasks to perform during a six-month ISS mission. It is far more important that the trainees' gain an overview about the various systems that make life possible in this hostile environment, and learn the basic skills in order to control all possible incidents on board by using the ubiquitous detailed procedures.

Among the many tasks aboard the ISS, of course, there is a certain division of labor: the individual members of a crew training are coached on three different levels, depending on their specialization. Each astronaut aboard the ISS has to master the User level, to attend safely to the daily operations at the station, to know the basic functions of life support systems and to respond to critical emergency situations.

For each specific task, such as the handling of the European Columbus module, selected astronauts are trained to the Operator level, to perform daily checks and maintenance tasks for specific systems, and to cope with a number of unusual problems that have to be processed and resolved within max. 10 minutes. The further education level Specialist includes extensive knowledge in the respective systems and the preparation for specific tasks that are planned during the mission, such as complicated maintenance, outboard repairs or special experiments.
The astronaut trainers are carved from the same wood as the astronauts themselves, relaxed and focused professionals who support their team through an intensive ISS education and stay with them as steady personal contact during the whole space mission.

Just set the unique experience of astronaut trainers at the service of your company – as speakers at events and seminars, in exciting workshops on highly complex international projects and in effective teambuilding programs in the world of Space Trainees!