“That’s one thing NASA does well,” Foreman said recently, “is prepare astronauts to work in space.”
With the end of the shuttle era, one of three trainers — CCT-1 — is now in the possession of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
An exact mock-up of a shuttle, the 11-ton CCT-1 trained more than 300 astronauts between 1981 and 2011 for their time in orbit.
For astronauts like Foreman, CCT-1 allowed them to not only practice moving around the craft, but to work out any jitters.
“I thought, ‘Wow, there are a lot of switches.’ That’s kind of an overwhelming feeling for a while. Months, actually,” said Foreman, a 55-year-old former Navy test pilot who has logged more than 6,000 hours in more than 50 aircraft.
Inside and out — 2,000 switches and all — the trainer looked every bit like a space-bound shuttle. It could even tilt straight up.
In fact, about the only thing CCT-1 didn’t do was lift off.
That, and the toilet didn’t actually work.
The trainer’s mid-deck naturally contained an exact mock-up of the shuttle’s living space — commode included.
“Every facet of life in space was covered in our training,” Foreman explained. “Even using the bathroom.”
Just about every task that would be performed aboard a real shuttle was practiced inside the trainers, no matter how mundane.
“There’s almost too many things to list,” Foreman said.
Inside CCT-1, astronauts practiced getting into their suits and getting in place for launch. They also practiced setting up exercise equipment, such as assembling an exercise bike.
“You kind of get used to that size,” Foreman said of the interior space.
That is, until you return to the shuttle after 12 days aboard the International Space Station.
“The space station is pretty cavernous compared to the shuttle,” he said.
Calling the shuttle simulators like CCT-1 “paramount” to their training, Foreman believes that, contrary to popular belief, Ohio actually got a better deal by not getting a real shuttle.
“It’s great that those other places got space shuttles,” he said, “but people can’t go inside an actual space shuttle. To be able to see inside or get inside, that’s hands-down a better deal.
“You’ll be able to be where we were when we were training.”
A native of Wadsworth, in northeast Ohio, Foreman is one of an astounding number of astronauts — 25 to date —from the Buckeye State.
Currently chief of safety for the astronaut office at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Foreman flew on two spaceflights, in 2008 and 2009, and performed five spacewalks, for a total of more than 637 hours in space.
“All the shuttle astronauts will look back with a little sadness at seeing that program end,” he said. “We did some great work. History will remember the shuttle as a stepping-stone to wherever we’re going.”
But, even without shuttles, it’s still possible for a kid to be an astronaut when they grow up.
Two Americans, for example, currently are aboard the space station, Foreman said.
“We need astronauts to go to Mars one day,” he said. “I think the future’s bright.”
As a matter of fact, NASA will be looking to hire 15 new astronauts next year, he said — and, so far, they only have 6,000 applicants.
Foreman personally applied eight times to be an astronaut, “and got rejected a lot,” before he made the cut in 1998.
“But,” he added, “it was worth it.”
And, no, he never gets tired of talking about the view from space.
“Every time someone asks,” he said, “I get to relive it in my mind. It’s just amazing, the view.”
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