October 10, 2007—It takes years of training and competition to be selected as a NASA astronaut, and then to get a crew position on the Shuttle. As the three rookies of Discovery’s planned upcoming mission are learning firsthand today, even getting inside the Shuttle takes work.

The seven astronauts are at Kennedy Space Center for training at the launch pad. That includes squeezing inside the spacecraft for a practice countdown, and I do mean squeezing. Each crewmember, on launch day, will wear a bright orange pressure suit like in their group photo at the left.

Mission commander Pam Melroy explained to me during a launch pad press conference that each astronaut has to get on their hands and knees and crawl through Discovery’s small circular crew hatch to get inside. Then, things get athletic. Melroy says "there are tools to help the larger crew members get 'shoehorned' in their seats, and sometimes it takes a little shove to get you in place." The two time Shuttle veteran says the trick is to use the hand rails inside the crew cabin, scrunch yourself into a little ball, then go in feet first. Melroy says it leaves her feeling really tired each time she gets into the spacecraft.

If all goes well, the astronauts will have to go through this only one more time—on launch day on October 23rd. That is, unless there’s a scrub due to weather or a technical problem. Then they’ll get more practice getting in and out of Discovery.

More to come.

Photo courtesy of NASA