Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center - Personnel and Training

Personnel and Training

Approximately 3,200 civil servants, including 110 astronauts, are employed at Johnson Space Center. The bulk of the workforce are the over 15,000 contractors. Over 15 contracting firms work at JSC; the largest is the United Space Alliance, which accounts for about 40 percent of the JSC employees. As of November 2005 the center's tenth director is former astronaut Michael Coats, the first being Robert Gilruth.

NASA's astronaut training is conducted at the Johnson Space Center. Astronaut candidates receive training on shuttle systems and in the basic sciences which include mathematics, guidance and navigation, oceanography, orbital dynamics, astronomy, and physics. Candidates are required to complete military water survival prior to beginning their flying instruction. Candidates are also required to become SCUBA qualified for extravehicular training and are required to pass a swimming test. EVA training is conducted at the Sonny Carter Training Facility. Candidates are also trained to deal with emergencies associated with hyperbaric and hypobaric atmospheric pressures and are given exposure to the microgravity of space flight. Candidates maintain their flying proficiency by flying 15 hours per month in NASA's fleet of T-38 jets based at nearby Ellington Field.

Additionally, candidates practice Orbiter landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft.

The astronauts begin their formal training program during their year of candidate training by reading manuals and by taking computer-based training lessons on the various Orbiter systems. The training process includes practice with the single systems trainer where the astronauts are trained to operate each Orbiter system and to recognize malfunctions and perform corrective actions.

Following SST training, the astronauts begin training in the Shuttle Mission Simulators (SMSs). The SMS provides training of shuttle vehicle operations and systems tasks associated with the major flight phases. Astronauts begin their training in the SMS using training software until they are assigned to a particular mission. Astronauts also train with the flight controllers in the Mission Control Center. The SMS and MCC are linked by computer in the same way the Orbiter and MCC are linked during an actual mission.