REAL LIFE NEWS: HOW TO BE AN ASTRONAUT
by Hazed
If you have always wanted to be a spaceman, woman or thing in real life, you may be interested in this description of just what you have to go through to be accepted as an astronaut.
European astronauts who worked on the Mir space station in the last ten years of its life went through a rigorous screening and testing procedure, which whittled 1065 candidates down to just 13. Here's a list of the tests they had to endure:
- The first check was to look at their academic and professional qualifications.
- Candidates all filled in a wide-ranging medical questionnaire. These two steps weeded out a lot of the applicants.
- They underwent extensive medical and psychiatric examinations. Anything less than flawless vision and hearing was not acceptable. They also had to be the right size to fit inside the cramped Soyuz vehicle that would transport them to Mir. At this point there were 272 candidates left in the mix.
- The candidates were subjected to a battery of physiological tests. For example, to rule out anyone prone to motion sickness, they had to tilt their heads and torsos while being spun around fast. Those with severe symptoms were eliminated.
- Next their response to high gravity was tested in a centrifuge where they suffered eight times the force of gravity for 30 seconds. Anyone who passed out or whose heartbeat became irregular was canned.
- The tilt test held the candidates at various angles to the ground, and if their blood pressure dropped, they were out.
- Candidates had to sit in an altitude chamber at the equivalent of 10,000 metres, and were brought down to sea level in just half a minute. If they lost consciousness, they were out too.
- Their general fitness was tested to make sure they met the minimum requirements for their age, which involved a cross-country run and a sprint that had to be completed in a set time.
- Finally, if they survived all of that, they were interviewed by the management of the space agency.
Phew! But having got through all the tests, there was still the basic training to get through, and then they were sent to Russia's training facility in Star City near Moscow to be trained for the specific mission.
Meanwhile, they had monthly medical tests, and were put in quarantine for the final two to three weeks before their flight, to avoid picking up any last minute infections.
What a palaver! It's certainly easier in Fed DataSpace.
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