>> HI, I'M TERRY VIRTS
AND I WANNA TALK ABOUT
FLOATING IN SPACE.
ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS
YOU NEED TO REALIZE
WHEN YOU GET INTO SPACE
IS THAT EVEN THOUGH
YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE FALLING,
YOU'RE NOT.
YOU CAN LET GO
AND YOU FLOAT.
THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM.
IT'S SOMETHING YOU REALLY
HAVE TO TRAIN YOUR BRAIN
TO THINK ABOUT.
ANOTHER THING THAT YOU
NEED TO LEARN WHEN YOU
FIRST GET INTO SPACE
IS HOW LITTLE FORCE
IS REQUIRED TO MOVE YOU.
AND ANOTHER COOL THING IS
YOU COULD BE ON THE CEILING.
IT MAKES IT VERY EASY
WHEN YOU'RE WORKING,
YOU HAVE TO GET--
DO SOME WORK DONE UP HERE,
YOU JUST GO UP ON THE CEILING
AND GET YOUR WORK DONE.
>> OUR TEAM OF SCIENTISTS IS
BUSY GETTING THEIR EXPERIMENT
READY FOR LAUNCH.
AT THE SAME TIME,
NASA IS PREPARING
THE SPACE SCIENTISTS WHO WILL
OPERATE THE EXPERIMENT ABOARD
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
>> SO AS ASTRONAUTS ON BOARD
THE SPACE STATION,
WE ARE THE HANDS AND EYES
OF RESEARCHING.
THEY ARE TELLING US
HOW BEST TO DO THE SCIENCE,
BUT IT'S UP TO US TO MAKE SURE
THAT SCIENCE RUNS CORRECTLY.
>> ASTRONAUTS TRAIN
ALL OVER THE WORLD,
INCLUDING AT NASA'S
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER
IN HOUSTON, TEXAS.
HERE THEY LEARN NOT JUST
HOW TO LIVE IN SPACE,
BUT ALSO HOW TO CONDUCT
SCIENCE IN MICROGRAVITY.
>> SO MANY FOLKS ASK,
"HOW MUCH TRAINING DID YOU DO
BEFORE LAUNCHING
TO THE SPACE STATION?"
AND THE ANSWER IS
MANY YEARS!
SO WE TRAIN IN
A LOT OF BIG AREAS.
NUMBER ONE IS SYSTEMS
ONBOARD THE ISS,
ROBOTICS,
HOW TO DO SPACEWALKS,
AND ACTUALLY SCIENCE ITSELF.
NOW WE DON'T LEARN ABOUT
A LOT OF THE SCIENCE
EXPERIMENTS WE'RE DOING
UNTIL WE GET UP THERE.
BUT WHAT THEY ARE TEACHING US
IS SCIENTIFIC TECHNIQUES.
THE TECHNIQUES ASTRONAUTS LEARN
RANGE FROM USING TOOLS
LIKE PIPETTES AND MICROSCOPES
IN MICROGRAVITY TO
OPERATING SCIENTIFIC HARDWARE
ABOARD THE SPACE STATION.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE STUDY
COMBUSTION ABOARD THE STATION
BECAUSE IT BEHAVES DIFFERENTLY
IN MICROGRAVITY.
YOU WOULDN'T WANT FIRE
TO GET FREE INSIDE YOUR HOME
IN SPACE, THOUGH.
SO WE'VE CREATED SPECIAL
FACILITIES TO CONTAIN IT.
IF IT LOOKS COMPLICATED,
IT'S BECAUSE IT IS.
AND IT'S JUST ONE OF
THE PIECES OF EQUIPMENT
ASTRONAUTS MUST MASTER BEFORE
THEY GO TO THE SPACE STATION.
>> HI, I'M TRACEY NEFF
AND THIS IS SHARON REINKE
AND WE'RE IN PDL2 RIGHT NOW.
AND WE'RE DOWN HERE AT JSC TO DO
THE FLUIDS AND COMBUSTION
FACILITY TRAINING FOR
THE COMBUSTION INTEGRATED RACK
AND THE FLUIDS INTEGRATED RACK.
>> SO BASICALLY, PDL2
IS A MOCKUP OF THE US LAB.
SINCE 2008 WE'VE BEEN
COMING DOWN AND TRAINING
ALL THE CREW MEMBERS
WHO WILL DO PAYLOADS
ON THE SPACE STATION.
WE'VE BEEN TRAINING
COSMONAUTS AS WELL.
>> HOW MANY CREW DO YOU THINK
YOU TRAINED AT THIS POINT?
>> PROBABLY...
50?
PROBABLY OVER 50
CREW MEMBERS WE'VE TRAINED.
>> TODAY, TRACEY AND SHARON
ARE BACK AT WORK
WITH A FORMER STUDENT.
NASA ASTRONAUT, MIKE FINCKE.
THIS ISN'T MIKE'S FIRST RODEO
WITH THE STATION,
OR THIS EQUIPMENT
FOR THAT MATTER.
>> SO BACK IN 2008 AND 2009,
WE WERE ABOARD
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
WHEN A SPACE SHUTTLE,
STS-126 CHRIS FERGUSON AND CREW,
DROPPED OFF A WHOLE BIG
BUNCH OF PACKAGES.
AND WE CAREFULLY AND SLOWLY
PUT IT ALL TOGETHER.
AND WHEN IT WAS ALL DONE,
WE HAD A BRAND NEW,
READY, FRESH-OUT-OF-THE-BOX
COMBUSTION INTEGRATION RACK.
AND SINCE THEN, OUR FRIENDS
AT GLENN RESEARCH CENTER
HERE AT NASA
HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET SOME
FANTASTIC SCIENCE ABOUT
HOW THINGS BURN IN SPACE
WITHOUT GRAVITY,
WITHOUT CONVECTION,
THINGS BURN.
AND BY UNDERSTANDING THAT BETTER
WE'RE ABLE TO MAKE MORE
FUEL-EFFICIENT ENGINES
AND THINGS HERE ON PLANET EARTH
HELPING SAVE OUR ENERGY.
SO YOU CAN SEE IT IN THE VIDEO.
ALL THE HOSES, UH,
ARE WITHIN THE RING.
AND, UH, SO THEY ALL FIT IN
NICELY SO THEY SHOULDN'T
INTERFERE WITH US.
>> SOUNDS GREAT AND LOOKS GREAT,
THANK YOU.
>> WELL A LOT HAD CHANGED IN
11 YEARS SINCE HE WAS UP THERE.
SO HE DID GET MOST OF
THE INFORMATION AGAIN.
AND IT WAS A NEW EXPERIMENT,
SO HE HADN'T SEEN THAT EITHER.
HE DID GREAT!
HE'S A QUICK LEARNER.
HE'S GREAT TO WORK WITH,
VERY METHODICAL.
AND GOOD HUMOR,
WHICH IS ALWAYS-- WE LIKE TO
HAVE FUN WHEN WE'RE TRAINING.
>> THEN THE-- THE LAB CAMERA
WILL BE SHOWING--?
>> YES, WE HAVE THE CAMERA ON.
>> AND I WILL BE LIKE, LOOKING
AND I'M GONNA GO SLOWLY
AND THAT WOULD BE YOUR CHANCE
TO SAY, "NO!"
>> YES.
WE ARE WATCHING YOU, YES.
AND...
HELP YOU WHENEVER WE CAN.
>> THIS ISN'T THE LAST TIME
TRACEY AND SHARON WILL
WORK WITH MIKE.
WHEN HE LAUNCHES TO THE STATION
AND WORKS ON COMBUSTION
PROJECTS IN SPACE,
THEY'LL WATCH OVER HIS SHOULDER
THROUGH A CAMERA BROADCASTING
TO GLENN RESEARCH CENTER
IN CLEVELAND, OHIO.
>> CHRISTINA, THIS IS SHARON
WITH AN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION,
SO THEY DO WANT YOU TO GO AHEAD
AND INSTALL THE CABLE TIE.
>> THAT'LL BE ALL.
THANKS FOR HUNTING
THAT DOWN FOR ME.
>> ANYTIME!
>> BEING ABLE TO OPERATE
AND MAINTAIN THE SPACE STATION
WHILE CONDUCTING
CRUCIAL RESEARCH
COULD GET OVERWHELMING.
LUCKILY, ASTRONAUTS HAVE STRONG
SUPPORT TEAMS ON THE GROUND
AND OFTEN DEVELOP
PERSONAL CONNECTIONS
TO THE RESEARCH.
>> I WAS SO IMPRESSED
AT THE DIFFERENT THINGS
WE'D BE WORKING ON--
CANCER OR PARKINSON'S
OR EVEN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.
SO AS A PHYSICIAN,
THESE MEANT A LOT TO ME.
THESE PERSONALLY WERE VERY
IMPORTANT EXPERIMENTS
THAT WE NEEDED TO DO.
BUT IN ALL HONESTY,
THE ENTIRE CREW, NOT JUST
MYSELF AS THE PHYSICIAN,
WERE EXCITED ABOUT
WORKING ON THESE EXPERIMENTS.
YOU GET A LITTLE NERVOUS
AT FIRST AS YOU BEGIN TO PIPETTE
OR EVEN UTILIZE A MICROSCOPE,
WHICH I HADN'T USED IN YEARS.
BUT YOU QUICKLY LEARN BECAUSE
YOU REALIZE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS
TO THE SCIENCE
AND THE INVESTIGATORS
AND SCIENTISTS RUNNING YOU
THROUGH ALL THESE EXPERIMENTS
WERE FANTASTIC AND JUST
WALKED US THROUGH IT
EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.
YEAH JUST KEEP US POSTED BUT--
DREW AND I ARE READY TO
CONTINUE OPS!
GOOD WORKING WITH YOU GUYS TODAY
AND I'LL SEE YOU SOON!
>> WE GOT HERE ON A THURSDAY
AND IT'S CURRENTLY SUNDAY.
WE'VE HAD A BIG DAY YESTERDAY
FILLING UP THESE WELLS
WITH GEL SOLUTION
AND GETTING READY FOR HANDOVER
AT 7:30 AM ON MONDAY.
AHEAD OF LAUNCH ON
TUESDAY AFTERNOON.