What Do You Have to Do During Astronaut Training?
For many, heading into space is merely a dream, but for astronauts, this seemingly impossible feat can be a reality. Because space travel presents some serious dangers and major challenges, individuals who wish to rocket to the stars must start on their mission by acquiring a vast amount of training that takes 20 months to complete. This training is multifaceted and intended to fully prepare would-be astronauts for the challenges they will certainly face when they venture into space.
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Flight Training
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Astronauts start their training learning not how to fly spacecraft, rather how to man standard jets. As NASA reports, all astronauts begin by learning the basics of flying military-grade aircraft. This training is intended to familiarize the would-be astronauts with the concept of flight and serve as a trial run, ensuring that they possess the ability to handle complex machinery.
Survival Training
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While astronauts have never been marooned on a distant planet, all astronauts are prepared for that possibility with survival training. Part of the astronaut training program includes basic survival training in which trainees venture into the wild and learn to survive with few supplies, helping them build their flexibility and creativity and prepare them for any dangers they may face.
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Weightless Simulations
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As every school child knows, once out of Earth’s atmosphere astronauts will get to experience weightlessness. Because these astronauts will have to complete relatively complex tasks in weightless environments, they must partake in simulations that will help them get used to and prepare to work in the absence of gravity.
Equipment Training
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Astronaut trainees must familiarize themselves with the specialized pieces of equipment that astronauts use daily in completing their jobs. These equipment pieces, including space suits and space vehicles, are all complex and require extensive study to ensure that astronauts know how to properly put them to use.
Underwater Training
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After familiarizing themselves with spacesuits, astronaut trainees take a dip, venturing into the pool in these watertight pieces of gear to both experience weightlessness once again and practice using their breathing apparatuses as they will have to in space when oxygen is nowhere near as concentrated as it is on Earth.
Shuttle Simulations
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The final step in any astronaut training program is moving through complex simulations in which the trainees pretend to man a shuttle. Through these simulations, trainees learn how to control a space shuttle as well as how to take off and land, all skills that they will require when they actually do have the opportunity to venture into space.
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