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The Orion capsule is about the same size as two minivans, but four Artemis III astronauts will call it home for nearly a month next year. To be able to not just live but work in such a tight space requires a lot of training and team building.<\/p>\n
The Artemis III crew members who were announced today will have had less mission training time than their Artemis II counterparts: approximately 1.5 years compared to the earlier crew\u2019s 3 years.<\/p>\n
Still, former astronauts say the Artemis III training timeline is long enough for the crew to learn their roles onboard and, importantly, to develop the camaraderie they\u2019ll need to comfortably live and work in close quarters.<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnical ability is important, \u201d said Leroy Chiao, a chemical engineer and former NASA astronaut. \u201cHowever, the most important traits of a successful astronaut are flexibility and the ability to work well with others as part of a team.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Many astronauts in the selection pool for the upcoming mission have been training together as astronauts for years. (The longest tenured astronauts considered \u201cactive\u201d and available for mission selection by the agency were selected in the late 1990s and early 2000s.) Each incoming class has received roughly two years of intensive general training, during which they use simulators and underwater tanks to get used to working in spacelike environments. They also typically learn to use equipment and systems they might encounter in space.<\/p>\n
Still, the bulk of the training happens once astronauts have been assigned to a mission. \u201cYou have to learn everything as a new skill,\u201d Kathleen Rubins, a microbiologist and former NASA astronaut, said of mission training.<\/p>\n
During this secondary training, astronauts spend time getting used to the specific spacecraft they\u2019ll inhabit, the experiments they\u2019ll be conducting and the crew members with whom they\u2019ll be working.<\/p>\n
“I think the next crew, they\u2019ll be different, but they will have that same level of camaraderie,\u201d as the Artemis II crew, Rubins said. \u201cYou just spend a year of your life with these people, and they turn into your family.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n