WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.000 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 NARRATOR: When astronauts climb into the space shuttle before launch, 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:08.000 they are thinking of many aspects of the liftoff and coming mission. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.000 That's why there is another astronaut on-hand to help the crew get strapped in 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.000 and ready for the flight. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:17.000 Stan Love, Astronaut: STS-122: You've got your mind on a lot of stuff when you're getting into 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:23.000 the shuttle and getting ready to launch into space and hooking up connections isn't always top 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.000 of your priority list. 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:29.000 NARRATOR: Following their basic astronaut training, many astronauts are assigned to 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:32.000 Astronaut Support Personnel duties. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.000 Chris Hadfield, Former Astronaut Support Personnel: As an astronaut you try to learn so many 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:39.000 things so that as a rookie when you come up you know what to expect and there are only a few 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:45.000 jobs that really teach you what to expect and one of them is to be working here at the Cape, 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:48.000 at the Kennedy Space Center as an astronaut support personnel. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.000 NARRATOR: They are known then as ASPs, or Cape Crusaders, since they work at 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:57.000 NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They are also called C-squareds. 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.000 Chris Hadfield: Working at the Cape, Cape Crusader, C-squared, whatever you want to call it, 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:07.000 and I learned so much about how the vehicles get ready, about the attitude at KSC, 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.000 and about what it is to be one of the crew members getting in and out of the vehicle. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.000 Just a great job to have as a new astronaut. 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:17.000 NARRATOR: The ASPs work with the closeout crew, the handful of technicians who oversee 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:22.000 the pre-launch preparations and also help get the crew in place. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:26.000 Before the crew arrives at the launch pad, the Closeout Crew sets the switches to launch 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:30.000 positions and readies the seats for the mission's astronauts. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:35.000 Chris Hadfield: It's a very well-polished process. The Closeout Crew up in the White Room 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:36.000 really know their job. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:40.000 They're expert and they see us astronauts roll through and they take good care of us and they 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:45.000 make sure we don't miss a step. And you as the astronaut support personnel, 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:50.000 you're helping with that process, but really those guys have the responsibility. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:54.000 You get in, you make sure things are good and you make sure none of the switches are 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:57.000 bumped and you take care of the things that you're responsible for. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:00.000 NARRATOR: The work is unusual because the space shuttle is standing on its tail, 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:06.000 so the crew compartment is tilted and the seats that would normally be on the floor appear to be 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:11.000 hung on the wall. This means the ASPs, technicians and astronauts have to step carefully and 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:16.000 literally climb into their seats, throwing their legs up over their heads to get into position. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.000 Steve Swanson, Astronaut, STS-117, STS-119: We pretty much say we just lay there 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:23.000 and they do all the work for you. If you try to help, you actually hinder them, 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:25.000 one of those type of situations. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.000 NARRATOR: Astronauts have long supported their peers leading up to launch. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:34.000 More than 50 years ago, astronaut John Glenn helped Alan Shepard get inside the small 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:38.000 Mercury capsule before the launch on May 5, 1961, 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.000 that would make Shepard the first American in space. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:48.000 Astronaut Doug Hurley led the ASP crew that helped the STS-107 crew strap in before the 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:54.000 launch of Columbia in January 2003. When that crew was lost to an accident during re-entry, 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:00.000 Hurley said he thought a lot about seeing them for the last time on the launch pad. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:03.000 Doug Hurley, Lead ASP, STS-107: Obviously it was hard on the entire country and on the 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:08.000 astronaut corps, but to lose seven people, you know, that you're close to and then it makes you 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:17.000 kind of dig deep and look down inside yourself and ask if this is really what you want to do and if 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:25.000 it's worth it and if it's the right thing and I was convinced it was, but still it was a very tough few 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:29.000 years to get through that, the aftermath of the accident. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:33.000 NARRATOR: When the crew of Discovery boarded the spacecraft for the return to flight 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:38.000 mission, STS-114, fellow astronauts were at their side to strap them into their seats. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:45.000 Hurley worked with the second return-to-flight mission, STS-121, as the ASP. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:50.000 Along with the personal help from the ASPs comes a generous dose of technical expertise. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:55.000 Stan Love: There are numerous communication checks with the flight director in Houston, 00:03:55.000 --> 00:04:00.000 with the OTC and NTD here at the Cape and they all have names and you can never remember 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.000 who it is and it's wonderful to have the C-squareds and the strap-in crew there, 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:06.000 leaning right over you, leaning in your face saying 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:10.000 "Your OTCs name is such and such, you're going to tell them this at this time " 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:17.000 and so it's really a great help to have them walking you through this step by step on a day when 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.000 you're really trying to think about other things. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:23.000 NARRATOR: Other aspects of the work involve simple camaraderie. 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:27.000 Steve Swanson: But it's a fantastic thing and the ASP, the person who puts you in, 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:31.000 the one who actually buttons you up, who tightens you up, all the belts, 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:35.000 is usually a friend of yours too. So it's kind of nice to have that face as the last face as they go 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:37.000 out the door and close the hatch, that that's who you see. 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:41.000 NARRATOR: As they work on the precision steps that go with getting their crew ready to 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:45.000 launch, the ASPs know they will get a chance themselves to climb in 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:47.000 for a space flight themselves. 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.000 Chris Hadfield: It's really nice when then it's your turn to be wearing the pumpkin suit and 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:56.000 standing there and having those guys joke with you as they put all the harness and everything 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.000 on and have yourself basically bolted into the vehicle to get ready for launch. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.000 NARRATOR: The ASPs and technicians know how important their work is to a successful 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:10.000 launch day, though it is part of the precise choreography involving specialists, technicians and 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:13.000 engineers from across many fields. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:18.000 Chris Hadfield: It's just one more link in an endless chain of counting on the expertise of so 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.000 many people that allows a crew and a shuttle to launch. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:25.000