The 2017 class of astronaut candidates toured the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay, during a familiarization tour of facilities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The candidates toured other center facilities, including the Launch Control Center, Launch Pad 39B, and the Space Station Processing Facility. They also toured Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Facility, United Launch Alliance’s Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and SpaceX’s Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy. The candidates will spend about two years getting to know the space station systems and learning how to spacewalk, speak Russian, control the International Space Station’s robotic arm and fly T-38s, before they’re eligible to be assigned to a mission.
Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
April 30, 2018