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Getting Set for Space: Julie Payette's Training for STS-127
Canadian astronaut rehearsing all the right moves for second mission
Life-size mock-ups of International
Space Station modules used
for astronaut training.
For the better part of a year Julie Payette has been logging countless hours flying high-altitude T-38 jets, riding realistic flight simulators, and wielding mock-ups of giant robotic cranes at the bottom of a 6.2 million gallon pool. But all this is just a day in the life of an astronaut training for the next assembly mission to the ISS.
Canadian Space Agency's veteran astronaut Payette is set to embark on one of the most intense and exciting two weeks of her life. As flight engineer for Space Shuttle Endeavour's upcoming voyage to the International Space Station she will have a packed work schedule, everything from helping the pilot fly the Shuttle and docking it to the International Space Station, to operating a record three robotic arms over the course of a grueling 16-day mission.
Marathon Training
Over the past year, Payette and her team have been put through their paces undergoing a marathon of training exercises related to the specific skills each crew member needs to perform flawlessly on the mission. In Payette's case this involved becoming proficient in operating not one, but three robotic manipulators.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette participates in a training session in the Mobile
Servicing System (MSS) Operation and Training Simulator (MOTS) with robotic instructor
Jamie Sevigny, at the headquarters of the Agency
in Saint-Hubert, Quebec.
Once Endeavour's cargo bay doors open on flight day 2, Payette will begin one of the most ambitious robotic missions ever -completing assembly of the Japanese laboratory module and delivering critical replacement components for the ISS. She will be taking on the role of robotic arm operator, switching between moving the Shuttle's Canadarm, the Space Station's Canadarm2, and at times even controlling the Japanese mechanical arm, which is attached to their science laboratory module.
Julie Payette participates in a training session on the Japanese space robotics arm in Japan from
February 16-20, 2009.
Not surprisingly, a big chunk of her training has involved rehearsing the complex choreographies related to the individual movements of these robotic arms. Practicing is vital for Payette so she gains expertise in how they will work in concert with spacewalking astronauts, moving components back and forth between the Shuttle cargo bay and the ISS. All basic training on how to operate the Space Station's Canadarm2 is done at CSA headquarters in Saint-Hubert, Quebec. Payette spent a full two weeks of her training there learning how to handle payloads, using the ISS Robotics Work Station and its graphical interface, along with possible malfunctions, and constraints of the arm.
Canadarm2 and Space Station modules mock-ups at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.
Most of Payette's training for STS-127 mission however has been at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston Texas where she lives with her family. A typical week of training includes practicing flight operations using realistic, life-size simulators that behave as if they were really in orbit, training on how to install and conduct newly delivered ISS science experiments on life-size mockups of the orbiting laboratory, and spending significant time practicing robotic arm operations in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory-a giant astronaut training pool-while fellow crewmates work underwater rehearsing the five spacewalks or EVA's they will be conducting to install newly delivered ISS components.
Final Countdown
NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.
As excitement builds for blastoff in the last few weeks before launch, Payette and her crewmates fly out to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin their final intense preparation mode. Now more than ever each astronaut works towards remaining in top physical and mental condition, focusing on each of their unique mission roles and responsibilities that lie ahead. Their last days before launch are filled with ongoing loops of simulated exercises, practicing for possible safety issues that may occur anytime during the mission, and solving any last minute minor technical glitches while still on the launch pad.
While it may sound daunting, Payette is more than ready to meet the challenge. Over a year of intensive training in Canada and the United States has gone into preparing her for this space mission - and it's about to pay off.
