Do astronauts psychologically prepare for the stunning and surreal feel of outerspace? How?

Question

I was checking out those really great pictures posted a few questions back and I started to think about the psychological impact behind it.
I really do think I'd filp out and be in shock. So, I just wonder how they manage to stay focused.
Thanks.

I'll definately get a listen in once I get off work. It'd be a little bizarre right now. Thanks man.

Answer 1

Sorry - I could not access your link (ADDED: actually, campbel's link), but I suspect that it is similar to flying jets in formation; something that most of these guys have done already. When I did that (decades ago) I remember flying past thunderheads with lead a few feet away - I was so busy staying in position and thinking about what we were going to do in the next 30 seconds that the view - spectacular as it was - was like something running in the background. I will never forget those fantastic views - and I suspect these guys in orbit will not either - but they have the discipline to see it and not let it distract them from the task at hand. Pilot training helps.

ADDED:

As for nausea, pilot training helps that too - after a few flights, you get used to it.

Answer 2

I was wondering the same thing. How can you get any work done with a view like THAT. It makes you understand why some people have already paid $20 million for the privilege of just looking out the the window of the space station for a week.

Listen to retired astronaut Dan Barry (the one who was on the Survivor TV show) talk about it in the source. He talks about how it is even more spectacular than the best photographs. A really good listen, that program.

Answer 3

From what I have heard there is nothing surreal about it. 24 hours or more of constant nausea are not much different from having food poisoning.


OK... maybe minus the grand view.

Answer 4

By flying in the Vomit Comet.