Quote from: Nilof on 01/23/2015 06:17 pmIndeed. Armstrong's experience from fighter aircraft in recovering from a spin did save his life during the Gemini 8 & Agena docking incident. Non test pilots would likely not have recovered as quickly and would probably have passed out and died.Really? I learned spin recovery when I was flying and had to demonstrate it on my flight test. (Glider pilots learn stuff power pilots stay away from). I think Armstrong's dealing with the G8 problem had more to do with shutting down the recalcitrant system and switching on the re-entry mode, not "stick forward and opposite rudder".
Indeed. Armstrong's experience from fighter aircraft in recovering from a spin did save his life during the Gemini 8 & Agena docking incident. Non test pilots would likely not have recovered as quickly and would probably have passed out and died.
Piloting fighter jets taught Virts how to prioritize tasks on a moment's notice, to think on his feet, to communicate quickly and succinctly.When it came to being an astronaut, "it was probably the most important training foundation I had," a literally buoyant Virts said in the microgravity of the space station Wednesday.He floated between fellow flight engineer Samantha Cristoforetti and Expedition 42 Commander Butch Wilmore for an interview with Air Force Times broadcast live on NASA TV.Like Virts, Cristoforetti and Wilmore are military pilots. Wilmore flew tactical jets for the U.S. Navy; Cristoforetti piloted fighters for the Italian air force.The experience put Cristoferetti in the habit of handling complex machines in operational environments. It also taught her self-discipline, perseverance and to put the goals of the team before the goals of oneself.As a naval aviator, Wilmore said, he grew accustomed to stressful situations. That made him all the better at handling them.
Quote from: Jim on 01/23/2015 11:56 amQuote from: the_other_Doug on 01/22/2015 10:17 pmAlso, occasionally (due to procedural errors, mostly) one of the big computers in Houston or Moscow will send up a wildly incorrect update to, say, a spacecraft's navigation state. Sometimes it's useful for an astronaut to be able, just by looking at a given set of numbers, to see that they are not within a reasonable order of magnitude of an expected value. Astronauts who have no clue what the correct numbers should look like are less useful as the final check on the reasonability of numbers passed up from the ground.The astronauts don't see the numbers, it is a direct file transferThese days, yeah, for the most part. Though some things are still sent up via teleprinter that include "crunched" numbers. I admit that I'm more of a buff of early spaceflight, when maneuver pads, etc., were frequently read up to the crews on the radio. During Gemini and Apollo, the test pilots on the crews (a majority of them, in fact) were able to, and often did, ask for explanations of the orders of magnitude of various planned maneuvers.However, you're absolutely right in re the standard role of the astronaut in manned spaceflight -- he/she tends to be a "cookbook" equipment operator, who through training has a general understanding of the operational limitations of the equipment he/she operates and who follows a checklist religiously to perform the intended functions.I always did find it interesting that NASA would hire astronauts with all of this flight experience and then set them to tasks that, on the whole, an average 14-year-old would be able to easily learn and master. (I especially found this interesting when I was in fact a 14-year-old, and determined that I could probably learn to operate the Apollo spacecraft with as much accuracy and professionalism as the test pilots...)
Quote from: the_other_Doug on 01/22/2015 10:17 pmAlso, occasionally (due to procedural errors, mostly) one of the big computers in Houston or Moscow will send up a wildly incorrect update to, say, a spacecraft's navigation state. Sometimes it's useful for an astronaut to be able, just by looking at a given set of numbers, to see that they are not within a reasonable order of magnitude of an expected value. Astronauts who have no clue what the correct numbers should look like are less useful as the final check on the reasonability of numbers passed up from the ground.The astronauts don't see the numbers, it is a direct file transfer
Also, occasionally (due to procedural errors, mostly) one of the big computers in Houston or Moscow will send up a wildly incorrect update to, say, a spacecraft's navigation state. Sometimes it's useful for an astronaut to be able, just by looking at a given set of numbers, to see that they are not within a reasonable order of magnitude of an expected value. Astronauts who have no clue what the correct numbers should look like are less useful as the final check on the reasonability of numbers passed up from the ground.
....astronauts use a fair amount of math - though generally it is on the ground to understand the principals of the systems, whether it be orbital mechanics of a visiting vehicle or water levels. Yes, in space procedures and checklist are the main way to execute an activity...So while the math used on orbit is pretty basic on a day-to-day basis, the actual math skills are pretty advanced to do the job.
Currently going to community college trying to boost my GPA enough that I could either get into a good school, or if I'm lucky enough intern at Spacex then go off to college.