Astronaut candidate training

Hansen and Saint-Jacques joined a group of other astronauts from around the world, all selected in 2009, for a two-year basic training course that NASA calls “astronaut candidate” training. Candidates learn the ins and outs of the ISS and also begin honing flight skills and other expertise they’ll require while on the space station.

“We first got to learn a lot of space science and engineering,” Saint-Jacques recalls. “We learned everything about the space station and what we might fly, and spent thousands of hours studying diagrams.”

There is also Russian language training, because half the crews on the space station are Russian and all astronauts leave Earth on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, at least until NASA develops a new spacecraft to replace the space shuttle (which is expected to happen in 2017). Russian is required to communicate with cosmonauts and also to ride in the Soyuz, which, naturally, has fully Russian controls. Astronauts need to pass challenging oral and written exams to be qualified to use the spacecraft. 

Space robotics

As Canadians, Hansen and Saint-Jacques are especially aware of the importance of space robotics. Canadarm2 is sometimes used for spacewalks on the station, when crew members need to heft equipment or travel long distances. On Earth, one location where astronauts train for Canadarm2 is in simulators in the CSA headquarters in Longueuil, Que., east of Montreal. There they learn how to keep adequate clearances for astronauts during spacewalks, or how to capture spacecraft, among other manoeuvres. 

“Sometimes the arm operator can’t see the clearances between the arm and the structure to make sure they’re not hitting anything, so they require the assistance of the spacewalkers,” Hansen says, pointing out that the crew member operating the Canadarm2 can’t even see his or her own feet. “There’s a lot of communication involved and a lot of teamwork.”

More recently, Canadarm2 has been adapted to catch new spacecraft — such as SpaceX’s Dragon — as they arrive at the ISS. Astronauts do virtual practice runs on the ground and even in orbit to prepare for these crucial cargo spacecraft, which carry food and supplies to the crews.

Isolation and psychological training

Before heading into the close confines of the ISS for a typical six-month mission, space agencies must make sure their astronauts can function in isolated and confined environments. NASA uses an underwater laboratory called Aquarius — located off the coast of Key Largo, Florida — for its NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) that typically have about six people living underwater for up to three weeks. Both Saint-Jacques and Hansen have participated in the NEEMO program.

Astronauts also participate in survival training such as an “off-nominal” (not part of the primary mission objectives) Soyuz landing scenario in Russian wilder­ness. In 2012, Saint-Jacques and two cosmonauts worked together to find food and make a shelter in –25 C, with only the descent capsule’s contents and parachute and a survival kit including a machete, waterproof matches, flares, a radio, six litres of water, a compass, a bit of food and a first aid kit.

Although astronauts are used to isolated environments and psychological hardships by the time they fly, they have private medical conferences with their doctors once a week and private psychological conferences every two weeks while in space, just to check in on anything that might be bothering them. Problems are rare, emphasizes Raffi Kuyumjian, the CSA’s chief medical officer for operational space medicine, but the doctors are also trained to listen for signs such as tense voices during normal ground communications.

Physical training

Astronauts are trained on all the exercise equipment aboard the ISS, which includes a treadmill, an exercise bike and a resistive device that uses piston-driven vacuum cylinders to simulate weightlifting. They spend roughly two hours a day in orbit (and varying amounts of time beforehand, depending on the training program) exercising. Most of the Earth-based physical training takes place at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, but frequent exercise continues no matter where the astronauts are.

Canada’s astronauts communicate with their doctors by phone or video conference during training, although a specialist flies to Houston to be with them for a week once every six to eight weeks, explains Natalie Hirsch, the project officer for space medicine at the CSA. “In a sense it’s quite good, mimicking what the support will be like while in space,” she says. “We have to work with them from a distance anyway.”

After getting into space, it usually takes three to four days for astronauts to get used to being in orbit. They are encouraged to take it slow at first during exercise, then ramp up. “Every exercise program is based on a standard template, but ends up being individualized for each person depending on preference and fitness level,” says Hirsch. That’s when the combination of resistance and cardiovascular training is most crucial, to lessen some of the negative effects that microgravity has on the body — such as muscle and bone loss — and keep them fit.

Getting ready for space

Both Saint-Jacques and Hansen are regular CAPCOMs in NASA’s Mission Control, serving as the voice link between the ground and the ISS. They are also called on to attend meetings and take part in spacewalk procedure rehearsals for missions. They also supported Chris Hadfield’s famous spaceflight in 2012-13 by attending meetings on his behalf and becoming familiar with his mission.