Training Montage – Astronaut Group 23

From spacewalk training in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory to studying space station systems, to flying in a T-38 jet or trekking through the wilderness, NASA’s astronaut training program allows astronaut candidates to work through problems and build relationships with their classmates to ready them for future space flights to the International Space Station, future orbiting destinations, the Moon, and beyond.

What is said in the film

Once you're accepted as an astronaut candidate, that's when the astronaut training begins. Astronaut training is I would say, challenging but fun. It's been a growing experience. It's intense, it's dynamic, and it's very rewarding. One day you might be in class studying space station systems, the next day you might be flying in a T-38 jet doing a training flight, and then the day after that you might be underwater in a space suit doing a practice EVA.

I think my favorite part was actually the spacewalk part. You know, you're in the pool and it is also the most challenging. I love the feeling of being pressurized in the suit and submerging underwater and moving in a space like environment in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, this giant pool we have where we have a mockup of the International Space Station and we practice spacewalks and maintenance. You're just riding this high the whole time that you're in a spacesuit and you're in the pool. It's really just a great day.

The most fun part of astronaut training for me was learning how to fly a jet. Flying the T-38. It's fun because it's an adventure and it's really weather based, so you're working through problems, you're trying to plan for fuel, you're trying to plan for logistics. Going that fast in a vehicle was exhilarating. The fun part of training was being in the wilderness.

It's so amazing. It's a new experience for me. Coming from diverse backgrounds and being immersed right into like a survival training event right out of the gate in the cold and the wet, just challenges that we had to support each other through. And that happens throughout the flows. Interesting weather.

It could be very cold, rainy, interesting terrain you have to overcome. Some of the geology ships were actually quite hot, but ultimately getting to camp together, spend that time together, tell each other stories and get to know each other better. It has just been very rewarding. Training together as a class has helped us build relationships with each other, which is extremely important in spaceflight, because once you go up to space, the people you travel with are your family. They are your support system.

Not only have spent these two years learning from classes taught by amazing instructors across NASA, but have also had the opportunity to learn from astronauts that have flown to space before flight directors and engineers that have flown many people to space. So it's a community of knowledge. We have a robust training program here and I've got confidence in that system and I've got confidence in the team that's got prepares to go. So I think the day that I get to strap in a rocket, I'll be excited. I'm going to be ready and I can't wait for that moment.

I feel honored and humbled to be a part of humanity's space faring years. I think exploration is one of humanity's most noble pursuits the creativity, the discovery, the innovation. And I feel a deep responsibility to be a link in the chain of explorers that have come before me to help push human knowledge, human experience, and challenge our beliefs of what we thought was possible.

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