The Usborne Mini Astronaut's Handbook – with foreword by British ESA astronaut Tim Peake

With foreword by British ESA astronaut Tim Peake

Tips for trainee astronauts from The Usborne Official Astronaut’s Handbook

This brief guide to becoming an astronaut gives you a glimpse of life in space.

To find out more, read the Usborne Official Astronaut’s Handbook. www.usborne.com/astrohandbook

Usborne Quicklinks For links to websites where you can watch video clips of astronauts, explore spacecraft and find out more about life as an astronaut and how to be one, go to the Usborne Quicklinks website at www.usborne.com/quicklinks and type in the keywords “astronaut’s handbook” Please follow the internet safety guidelines at the Usborne Quicklinks website.

Based on The Usborne Official Astronaut’s Handbook Foreword by European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake

Foreword

SO YOU WANT TO BECOME AN ASTRONAUT?

W

ell then, this guide is a really great place to start –−but there are many different paths you could take to get to space.

I was a test pilot before being selected by the European Space Agency for astronaut training. My fellow astronauts all come from different countries and had jobs such as scientists, engineers, doctors and pilots.

So what do we have in common? We all share a passion for space and exploration, enjoy science and try our best at everything.

Getting humans and machines into space is really difficult.

Astronauts train hard so that they are ready for anything –− and of course it’s important to stay fit and healthy.

But it also takes brilliant scientists and engineers to design our rockets and spacesuits, and make everything work. This exciting guide will tell you a bit more about what it’s like to live and work in space... and why getting there and back is such a tough job.

So, good luck on your journey and maybe I’ll see you in space one day!

Name: Tim Peake Birthplace: Chichester, UK Born: 7th April, 1972 Occupation: ESA astronaut Previous jobs: Army helicopter pilot, flight instructor, test pilot Other interests: Climbing, caving, skiing, scuba diving

HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES? Before you can even think about applying for a job as an astronaut, you need to be:

A generally healthy person You don’t need to be superhumanly fit, but going into space is no walk in the park. If even the words ‘walk in the park’ fill you with dread, you’ve got a long way to go.

Bright and hardworking What’s the quickest way into space? Doing your maths homework! You’ll need to do well at school, then take a university degree in maths, engineering, or something else science-y.

Friendly, fine in small spaces, and preferably not smelly On a mission into space you might have to spend months trapped in a metal box with other astronauts. Don’t forget your toothbrush.

If you tick all those boxes, the next step is to persuade an organisation called a space agency to sign you up. They’re the ones who’ll train you and send you into space. There are several around the world, such as NASA in America or the European Space Agency (ESA) in Europe.

Erm... actually I’m not sure I fancy the astronaut life. I do love spaceships though...

Fear not, there are plenty of other career options. You could be: A SCIENTIST OR AN ENGINEER — teams of both work together to get spacecraft off the ground and keep astronauts safe in space.

A TECHNICIAN — responsible for all kinds of machines, from laboratory computers to space robots.

A FLIGHT DIRECTOR — the boss, who gives orders from a room on Earth known as ‘Mission Control’.

A FLIGHT SURGEON — a doctor who looks after astronauts on the ground and talks them through medical procedures when they’re in space.

AN ASTRONAUT TRAINER — teaches astronauts everything from how to put on a space suit to how to fly a spacecraft.

SPACE CADET TRAINING Training to be an astronaut is incredibly hard work, and you have to be the best of the best to succeed. Here are just some of the challenges that lie ahead:

Spaceship flying lessons You’ll need to learn how to pilot a Soyuz – the spacecraft that will take you into space. Then there’s the matter of knowing how to fix anything that might go wrong on board.

And if that’s not enough, the Soyuz is a Russian spaceship, so you’ll have to learn a new language if you want to know what the buttons say.

Is that the Russian for ‘on switch’ or ‘mission abort’?

Astronauts need all sorts of skills. Find out more in The Usborne Official Astronaut’s Handbook.

Weightlessness training A plane nicknamed the ‘Vomit Comet’ takes trainees up and down in steep curves, making everyone on board float for a few seconds, as though they’re in space. The unfortunate side effect is that many people end up showing their crewmates whatever they had for breakfast.

You float here.

You float again here.

You sink back down to the floor here.

Pool practice Working underwater helps you get used to how it feels to move your body in space.

Astronaut training pools have copies of spacecraft installed in them, so you can practise fixing them or adding new parts.

Survival skills training What if your spaceship goes off course and lands in a remote wilderness?

Your training will teach you how to stay alive anywhere on Earth.

LIFT OFF! You’ve passed your exams and completed your training. It’s finally time to climb into a rocket and blast off into space.

You squeeze into a tiny spacecraft — the Soyuz — nestled inside the top of the rocket.

(Don’t worry, there’s a lift).

Soyuz (inside the rocket)

Up, up and away As it soars towards space, parts of the rocket fall off until only the section you sit in remains.

1. Just after liftoff, your rocket looks like this. All the engines at the bottom are firing.

2. Bits of the rocket which aren’t needed any more fall off.

3. Soyuz flies free in space.

Used-up booster engines

Solar panels unfurl.

These turn sunlight into energy to power the ship.

The International Space Station (ISS) Your destination is the ISS, a huge spaceship where you’ll live and work with other astronauts for the next few months.

Say hello to your new home.

Soyuz (with you inside)

ISS (your destination)

Docking with the ISS To dock — or join up — with the ISS, you have to fly your Soyuz (carefully) into one of the ISS docking ports.

ISS

Docking port Soyuz

LIFE ON THE ISS In space, everything floats*. That’s great news if you want to beat your high jump record, but it can make even the simplest of tasks much more difficult.

Sauce

Eating

Packet of dried eggs — add hot water to eat.

Velcro to keep things in place

Drink bag

Scissors to cut open sealed food bags. Be extra careful where these float.

*Even though it feels as if you’re floating, actually you’re falling, and so is everything around you, including your spacecraft. Don’t panic though, you’re not going to crash.

Weird, huh?

Why do you fall without crashing? The Usborne Official Astronaut’s Handbook has the answer.

Sleeping

Zzzzz z

zzz

When it’s bedtime, you’ll have to climb into a sleeping bag hooked onto a wall.

You might not be able to stretch your legs as much as in your bed back on Earth, but at least you won’t go sleep-floating in the night.

Going to the loo Space toilets use suction to make up for the fact that everything floats in space. If they didn’t, who knows what might go drifting freely towards your crewmates...

Sit carefully and aim poos down this hole.

Pee into this.

There are different attachments for men and women.

You have to hold yourself down using foot restraints and straps.

On one early space mission, called Apollo 10, a poo got loose until an astronaut caught it with a napkin.

WORKING ON THE ISS The main point of being on the ISS is to carry out science experiments, discovering how things work in space. (The fact that you get to fly around the station pretending to be a superhero is just a bonus.)

Studying the human body A lot of the time, YOU are the experiment. Tests on astronauts have shown that life in space affects the body in lots of different ways: Your bones get weaker.

Your muscles shrink, including your heart (a little).

You’re exposed to more of the Sun’s radiation than on Earth.

(This is energy given off by the Sun, which can be harmful.)

Your eyesight can get worse.

To stay fit and healthy, you’ll have to eat nutritious food and do lots of exercise (around two hours a day).

Robonaut 2 One of your jobs on the ISS is to teach a robot called Robonaut 2 how to do dangerous or repetitive tasks, so that future crews won’t have to.

Robonaut 2

Robonaut 2 can be controlled with movement-sensitive gloves and a visor.

The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) This sealed see-through box has a pair of gloves inserted through two holes. It keeps experiments safe and stops samples floating away.

MSG: Great for science experiments, just remember to take your hands out before trying to scratch your nose.

SPACEWALKING Not all astronauts get to go on a spacewalk, but if you’re one of the lucky ones you’re sure to remember the experience for the rest of your life.

WOW!

A strong cord called a tether stops you floating too far from the ISS.

To go outside the ISS, you need to wear an Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) suit.

Lights so you can see what you’re doing

Control panel

Oxygen supply on your back The suit has mini rockets to fire you back to the ISS in an emergency.

Warning: going outside and seeing the whole of Earth right there in front of you is mesmerising. Drink in the view by all means, but remember to head back inside – your oxygen supply won’t last forever...

BACK DOWN TO EARTH When your time on the ISS comes to an end, there’s still the small matter of returning home safely. It’s time to drop 400km (250 miles) out of the sky. Fasten your seatbelt...

Clamber back into your Soyuz spacecraft. That’s the same, snug little ship which brought you up in the first place.

Fly away from the ISS and back towards Earth.

Gravity helps by pulling you down. Fast.

As your Soyuz re-enters the atmosphere, it gets incredibly hot on the outside. Heat shields stop it — and you — burning up.

Parts of the Soyuz fall away on the way down. In the end, it’s not much more than a fancy metal can.

As you approach Earth, parachutes open to slow you down.

Your Soyuz, a little chargrilled from the journey

Fire your engines. They slow your fall even more, so you have a ‘soft’ landing. (It will still feel like a minor car crash.)

Engines firing

Enjoy being back. In Earth’s gravity it feels as if you weigh a ton, but it’s good to be home.

Until next time...

It’s an exciting time for space in the UK. The UK Space Agency is working with other space agencies on over 20 active missions to explore the Solar System and find out more about the Universe. Discoveries in space help back on Earth too, telling us how our planet is changing, or inspiring new inventions to make our lives easier.

If you choose a career in space you might find yourself building a new spaceplane or developing technology to map a distant planet. Or you could be using satellites to study pollution on Earth or helping aid agencies reach a disaster zone. The possibilities are as vast as space itself.

One person who knows all about a career in space is the British ESA astronaut, Tim Peake. Here’s what Tim had to say about life as a spaceman...

How do you prepare for a mission to space?

I do lots and lots of training. I have to know how to fly spaceships and control robots, as well as understand the science experiments we do on the ISS.

Do you ever want to give up?

Training is tough, but I’ve never wanted to give up — going to the ISS is too exciting! I’ve also learned so many new skills and get to do exciting things like caving, underwater training and flying in fast planes that make you feel weightless for a few seconds.

Why is what you do important?

Living and working in space is very difficult, but it helps us learn new things. We’re forced to overcome many challenges by innovation, experimentation and pushing the boundaries of what we consider possible.

‘Principia’ is the name of Tim’s mission to the ISS.

Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut Get fit for space by taking the Mission X challenge. Anyone can join in, and there are lots of fun activities to keep you fit, healthy and on the road (or flightpath) to becoming an astronaut.

For details on how to get involved, go to the Usborne Quicklinks website (see instructions at the start of this book).

Spot the Station You can see the International Space Station as it passes over the UK. To find out how, go to the Usborne Quicklinks website.

ESA is made up of 22 countries around Europe.

Most of these countries are too small to take part in big space projects on their own, but by working together, they can play an important part in many different space activities.

Exploring space One of the most exciting ESA projects at the moment is a spacecraft called Rosetta. It flew millions of miles to a comet called 67P, which is travelling through space at 135,000km/h (84,000mph).

Rosetta

Rosetta released a small robot called Philae, which became the first ever spacecraft to land on a comet.

Comet 67P

Philae

Information from Rosetta is helping us understand how comets work, and how they might pose a risk to Earth in the future.

Astronaut training It takes years of training to learn the skills you need to go into space. The latest batch of ESA astronauts was recruited from France, Germany, Denmark, Italy and the United Kingdom, in 2009.

ESA astronauts are based in Cologne, Germany, but spend a lot of time travelling to Russia, the USA and Japan to learn how to use all the different types of equipment.

Studying Earth from space ESA works with European companies to build and launch uncrewed spacecraft known as satellites, which fly around Earth. They help us do all kinds of things, from making phone calls and watching TV, to mapping roads and predicting what the weather will be like.

USBORNE SPACE BOOKS We hope you’ve enjoyed this introduction to life as an all-action astronaut — yes, even (or especially) the yucky bits. But this is only the beginning, and there’s a whole lot more to discover...

How do rockets work? What do astronauts do all day?

Why do they need to wear spacesuits? You’ll find the answers to these and many more questions in the full, uncut, The Usborne Official Astronaut’s Handbook.

£2 off and free UK delivery when you buy the print book online from www.usborne.com/ astrohandbook Use voucher code ASTROHANDBOOK at the checkout.

Also available as an ebook.

For comparison, think of the mini book you’ve just read as a tiny little Soyuz hovering next to the mighty ISS.

Feel ready to take on the Universe? Try these Usborne books, with lots more information about astronauts, spaceships, and faraway planets, stars and galaxies.

Find out more at www.usborne.com/space

AWARD WINNER

AWARD WINNER

Acknowledgements

Written by Jonathan Melmoth and Louie Stowell Edited by Lesley Sims Designed by Jamie Ball Expert consultants: Libby Jackson (UK Space Agency) and Stuart Atkinson With thanks to: Tim Peake, Cady Coleman, Jeremy Curtis and Julia Short (UK Space Agency), and Margherita Buoso (European Space Agency).

Photograph of Earth on pages 14-15 © NASA This ebook edition first published in 2015 by Usborne Publishing Ltd., Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT, England. www.usborne.com The name Usborne and the devices are Trade Marks of Usborne Publishing Ltd. UKE. Copyright © 2015 Usborne Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or used in any way except as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or loaned or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law.

Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ePub ISBN 9781474905046 Batch no. 03892-02