(4)Perhaps no one knows the value of training better than an astronaut.If an ill-prepared astronaut makes a fatal mistake during a spacemission, he puts the crew in danger. Therefore, to an astronaut,training is of the greatest importance.

    Theskills needed for a mission to space require months of extensivepreparations. For instance, astronauts receive training in a ShuttleMission Simulator (SMS), a machine that is made to recreate theactual space shuttle. The SMS imitates everything the space shuttledoes, and the simulations include all aspects of a space mission,from the pre-launch procedures to the end of the voyage.

    Anotherskill that the astronauts must learn is how to make a space shuttledock with or join to the International Space Station (ISS). To makeit dock with the ISS, the astronauts must ensure that the spaceshuttle iswithin three inches of the docking ring on the station. Theastronauts use a controller similar to those used for video games,but they cannot push a reset button if they make a mistake. In space,there is no room for error.

    Practicingfor a spacewalk also takes a lot of time. In conditions that simulatespace, astronauts are trained in a large pool equipped with full sizemodels of the shuttle and the ISS. Even with all of this preparation,however, a spacewalk presents many dangers. The smallest mistakecould threaten the lives of the astronauts when they are outsidetheir spacecraft.

     Landingis another important aspect of space travel for which astronautsendlessly train. Before an actual shuttle mission, astronautspractice landing for hundreds of hours in a specially designedaircraft that simulates the characteristics of the real space shuttleas it glides toward the earth at more than 300 miles per hour.

    Inaddition to their specialized skills, astronauts spend years becomingused to everyday activities in zero gravity. Nothing is the same inspace as it is on earth, from cooking dinner to taking a shower. Theversatile training that astronauts receive is truly out of thisworld.