Training of Astronauts: Behind the Scenes Pushing To Their Limits!

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The astronauts of the mission Apollo 11 made a great journey. They were capable of making the first landing of human beings on another celestial body. They were also capable of enduring hard training that put their physical and mental strength to test. Even Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins had to complete the full hard training program. The astronauts learned not only the technical details of how to land on the moon’s surface and investigate it but also got ready for all possible problems that were beyond prediction.

These astronauts would also undergo moon gravity training at special facilities run by NASA and learn to survive the most extreme conditions on Earth. They trained in the Nevada desert and other locations across the world on how to walk on the surface as would be on the Moon. The astronauts also trained in a number of underwater-type facilities. These simulate the weightlessness of space. Indeed, deliberate preparation paved the way for Apollo 11 and literally made the path for further space travel. Let’s dive in for the details.

The Beginnings of Astronaut Training

Training for the astronauts who would fly on the Apollo missions started long before the capability to land on the Moon developed. NASA knew from an early stage in the program that its astronauts would have to be more than just pilots. They would need to know geology, and engineering and survival techniques. It is realized that the training courses for the mission of Apollo 11 was based on previous experience with Mercury and Gemini flights. However, far more comprehensive.

Training included knowledge of the use of the spacecraft and awareness about the surface of the Moon itself. Astronauts dedicated many hours studying the Moon’s shape and its rock composition. They combined their physical training along with academic learning, as they needed to maintain maximum physical fitness in order to face the challenges of space exploration.

Simulating Lunar Conditions

Of all the perceived difficulties in training astronauts, probably the most difficult was in preparing crews to work in the low gravity of the Moon. To that end, NASA developed numerous creative techniques for simulation. Of all the widely solicited training apparatus, there is the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle. Very peculiar, it gave astronauts an opportunity to practice landing on the Moon. The LLRV simulated the gravity of the Moon in training during the final landing on the Moon.

Other training essential would be that in neutral buoyancy pools or large tanks of water. Under these tanks, astronauts would conduct mock moments and movements of LOW-G conditions. Specially-weighted suits are there to carry out these. This helps them simulate walking on the Moon and therefore perfect all their skills before heading out.

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Training Locations Around the World

NASA took the Apollo astronauts into some very remote and rough areas on Earth in training for the Moon environment. Some of the most critical training sites included the Nevada Test Site. It is where the astronauts learn how to get around on rough ground and collect samples of rocks. The site was chosen because of rugged land. It appeared very similar to much of the surface area on the Moon.

The Grand Canyon was another serious place of training when astronauts learned to recognize the rock and land types. It was very important since the astronauts obliged to take with them some valuable samples from the Moon surface. Icelandic volcanic regions represented the Moon’s surface and gave an extended opportunity to practice skills.

Survival Training

NASA was aware that space flight was a dangerous business where an accident could occur at any time; therefore, astronauts had to go through rigorous survival training, in anticipation of this very fact. Training went all the way from very basics of survival skills in the wilderness to extraction techniques in cases of emergency landings from spacecraft.

“You have a training team, led by a simulation supervisor, and their job is to come up with mission scenarios that are utterly realistic and will train every aspect of the crew and controllers’ and flight directors’ knowledge. Training was about as real as you could get. You would get the sweaty palms. It was no longer training – it was real. The same emotions, the same feelings. The same adrenaline would flow,”
“In a day’s work, we would exercise this 10 or 12 times a day. Run it, debrief it, turn it around, run another one,”
“When you get out of the room at the end of the day you are drained. I used to tell people, you know if you can survive the simulations, the mission is a piece of cake because you are not usually working on 20 problems at once. Maybe one.”
Gene Kranz, former flight director of the Apollo missions

But probably one of the most harrowing survival training exercises we can see is in the deserts of Nevada. That is where astronauts learn to sustain life in this dry and rough area with the least resource availability.

Psychological Preparation

The psychological aspects of space travels are readily taken for granted. However, NASA understood that to make space travel possible an astronaut must be both physically and psychologically prepared. In isolation and confinement to a small spot, even the most robust individuals could get crazy. Therefore, NASA devised some training exercises for the astronauts in order to cope with their mission’s stress.

Such training included stress management, practicing long periods of being alone, all things which the astronauts were going to confront in space. The mentality was that all of these were with the mentality of preparation because the astronauts were going to confront it during the mission.

Conclusion

The training in preparation for the mission of Apollo 11 was surely very careful and thorough. This would have been training that took the astronauts up to the physical and mental limits of human endurance just to make sure they were quite ready to handle what came their way in their effort to land on the moon. That the mission was a success is proof enough that they received good training and were dedicated astronauts.

These lessons from Apollo 11 still influence the way astronauts train today. NASA prepares for future missions on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Perhaps what this Apollo 11 training program does show is how important training is and how big the things that happen can be when we challenge ourselves.