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In
preparation for servicing missions to Hubble,
astronauts undergo extensive training. A huge
underwater tank provides the closest training
environment for weightlessness. During this training,
the astronauts wear special underwater-pressurized
suits similar to the suits worn on orbit. This
40-foot-deep tank contains full-scale underwater
mockups of Hubble, the instruments being changed
out and the carriers that hold the instruments.
Astronauts spend many weeks in this underwater
training, accompanied by weeks of classroom instruction.
This
underwater training is performed at NASA's Johnson
Space Center Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. While
at the Johnson Space Center, astronauts also train
using virtual reality and practice in a thermal
vacuum chamber, which simulates the space environment
with temperature variations of minus 200 to 200
degrees Fahrenheit. Additional training is available
at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where the
astronauts train with high fidelity mockups of
Hubble, the flight instruments, and the flight
tools required to service Hubble.
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