Unusual "full-house" on the international space station Credit: ESA/DLR CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Alex Gerst executing the GRIP experiment Credit: ESA/DLR CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
DLR's Astronaut Training Department is integrated into an international team of CNES, ASI and ESA staff - together with other staff from industry and the astronauts themselves, they jointly operate the European Astronaut Centre (EAC).
The EAC building is the so-called home base, i.e. the official headquarters of the ESA astronaut corps. In addition to offices, the building contains a training hall with various mock-ups (replicas of the modules in space) and simulators (replicas of the experimental facilities in space), a 10-metre deep diving pool and various control rooms. From these control rooms, specially trained staff communicate with the astronauts on board the space station and the other worldwide control centers. Another aspect of this work is the medical support of ESA astronauts during their mission on the International Space Station.
Extensive medical care for ESA astronauts, both physical and psychological, before and after the flight is also provided at the EAC.
The EAC not only trains European astronauts for space missions, but also the astronauts of the international partners USA, Russia, Canada and Japan. They learn how to handle the European modules of the space station and the experiment facilities in the Columbus laboratory.
The so-called Astronaut Support Team assists the astronauts in all logistical matters, organises their journeys to the various training locations and to the launch and landing site of their mission. During the actual flight, the team maintains regular contact with the astronauts' families and supports the exchange of information between Earth and space with a crew web page.