Astronaut training
When training for a long tour of duty aboard the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts spend many months away from their homeland, globetrotting between Canada, the United States, Europe, Russia and Japan. They learn all that needs to be learned about the orbiting laboratory, the Soyuz spacecraft and the tasks specific to the mission.
In North America
Part of the astronauts' training took place at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec.
Overseas
The astronauts also trained in Star City, home to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Centre, where they focused on the Soyuz spacecraft that carried them to and from the ISS.
Robotics
Preparations began with basic training in the use of the robotic arm at the CSA headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec. Once assigned to a station flight, most of their Canadarm2 preparations take place at NASA's Johnson Space Center, using a combination of engineering simulators and a virtual reality training lab.
Spacewalks
Astronauts arrived at the ISS prepared to lead an assortment of spacewalks—activities outside the orbiting science laboratory intended to keep it safe for its six astronauts and productive for a growing number of science experiments.
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