Table of Contents

Training

• Roller Coaster Plane
• Canadians in orbit
• Training for space

When Canadian astronauts are selected, they follow a training plan similar to that of NASA astronauts.

A strenuous training program has been designed for them to bring them up to a general level of knowledge about space because, prior to being selected, these "astronauts" are scientists, pilots, doctors, or engineers who may not have much experience in space.

After the first year of basic training at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), recruits continue training in Canada as Payload Specialists or at NASA as Mission Specialists, until they are assigned to a flight. Training for Space Station is expected to take several years.

During the first few months at the CSA, the recruits spend most of their time in classrooms. They study areas such as Earth observation, geology, oceanography, astronomy, photography, and life support in microgravity. Scuba diving, wilderness survival, piloting, and parachuting also have to be mastered.

Roller Coaster Plane

An important aspect of astronaut training involves flying in a specialized aircraft (either NASA's DC-9 or Canada's Falcon 20) which flies in a parabolic (roller coaster) pattern to achieve short periods of microgravity. When the plane reaches the top of the curve and starts descending, everything inside the plane becomes weightless for several seconds, and floats. The weightlessness lasts until the plane reaches the bottom of the curve and turns up again. Astronauts need to experience weightlessness in preparation for spaceflight and to conduct experiments on behalf of Canadian scientists.

Canadians in orbit

Canadian astronauts are currently divided into two categories: payload specialists and mission specialists.

A payload specialist is an astronaut trained to conduct an experiment or, more often, a set of experiments during a mission aboard the Space Shuttle. Months prior to the mission, the payload specialist begins intensive scientific training with the scientists responsible for the experiments, called the Principal Investigators. The payload specialist must become completely familiar with the payload, equipment necessary for the experiments, which includes both the materials and the hardware. Despite careful planning, equipment may fail. A well-trained payload specialist will likely be able to fix the equipment or come up with an alternate plan so that the experiment will not be lost. Until recently, all Canadian astronauts were trained as payload specialists.

Mission specialists are responsible for the operation of orbiter systems during spaceflight. Mission specialists have mission responsibilities: they operate the Canadarm, and go on "spacewalks" to work outside the shuttle. Mission specialists in training spend more time in classrooms, learning about the basic theory, design, and operation of all the shuttle's major systems, including data processing, electrical power, propulsion, manoeuvring, life support, navigation, communications, and camera/TV systems. Mission specialists do not fly the shuttle, but they must be able to repair something if it breaks down.

In the summer of 1993, Marc Garneau and Chris Hadfield completed Mission Specialist training at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston.

Bob Thirsk was designated as Payload Specialist in April 1995 for Mission STS-78, a Life and Microgravity Spacelab, which flew in June 1996 on Columbia.

On May 16, 1996, Marc Garneau participated in his second spaceflight as a Mission Specialist, aboard Endeavour, during Mission STS-77.

On November 12, 1995, Chris Hadfield left as part of the crewmembers for an eight-day flight, Mission STS-74. He was the first Canadian Mission Specialist to fly into space, and visit the Russian Space Station Mir. As well, he became the first Canadian to operate the Canadarmin orbit.

In February 1996, Dave Williams finished his Mission Specialist Class at NASA, thus becoming the third Canadian Mission Specialist.

Training for space

For all astronauts, missions are planned a long time in advance and involve a 28-week intensive training program at JSC prior to flight. This includes academic classes, simulator sessions, briefings, tours, and aircraft flight activities. Parallel to this training, payload specialists must also undergo specific training related to the science experiments they will be conducting in space.

When a payload specialist is chosen for a mission, a back-up is selected in case something should happen to the astronaut before the shuttle goes up. Both prime and back-up go through the same training and mission simulations (practice runs of the mission, from launch to landing). If anything should happen to the astronaut selected to fly (from a broken leg to a cold) then the back-up would fly instead and the mission would not be delayed. Mission specialists do not always have back-ups because their training is of a more general nature. A mission specialist could replace a colleague fairly quickly, if necessary, with only a minimum of additional training.

All astronauts preparing for a mission, whether as payload or mission specialists, must practice the entire mission over and over again in exercises called "simulations" ("sims"). All the planned experiments are practised and often an astronaut will go through hundreds of sims before he or she actually goes into space. While the crew do their sims, they are faced with all kinds of malfunctions.  

Their reactions are later evaluated to assess their effectiveness in space. This is done so that if anything goes wrong in orbit, they are prepared to deal with it. The crew learn and practice emergency evacuation procedures, just in case of a problem at launch time. Splashing into the water weighed down by 40 kilograms of launch escape suit, jumping out of the shuttle's side hatch, and driving the special armoured tank used for an emergency escape from the launch pad are just some of the exercises astronauts undergo as they ready themselves for a flight in space. Every possible contingency is planned for; astronauts must learn how to abandon the shuttle in the case of an emergency.