NARRATOR: Even astronauts need a place to stay before they rocket into space.
For the crews of the space shuttle, launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida,
that place was the astronaut crew quarters, a set of bedrooms,
offices and facilities built into the center's Operations and Checkout Building.
Resembling a college dorm, the crew quarters doesn't scream technology and space
as much as it whispers comfort and familiarity.
And that's the idea, give the astronauts a place to relax,
eat and sleep before they go to work in space on missions that will mark
some of the most taxing times in their lives.
Bob Cabana, KSC Administrator & Former Astronaut: My first impression when I arrived was, wow,
I'm in astronaut crew quarters. I mean, you walk in, it was before it had been remodeled,
on my first flight, and these are the rooms that the Apollo astronauts stayed in.
There's nothing fancy about it, it's not going to the Ritz Carlton,
it wasn't even a Motel 6, but it was astronaut crew quarters and that was really special.
NARRATOR: Gemini astronauts were the first to stay in the crew quarters.
All the Apollo astronauts slept here before going to the moon.
The facility grew when the space shuttles began taking more and more people into space at a time.
The aura of crew quarters grew with each landing and each new spaceflight achievement, even among the astronauts.
A couple of the rooms were seen publicly on launch day, but most of it
remained a mystery until the shuttle's retirement.
Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, a former astronaut who spent many nights in
crew quarters preparing for his missions or helping others get ready for theirs,
showed off some of the lesser-known areas of the facility,
along with the spots that are familiar to space program enthusiasts.
Bob Cabana: The dining room, what you guys probably remember seeing all the time is the
crew sitting at the table and they're all smiling and everybody's up,
ready for launch and they're in their crew shirts and they take general shots of
everybody and then they move off and the crew actually sits down and eats.
NARRATOR: The cooks at crew quarters have to accommodate a range of tastes,
keeping in mind that astronauts are often concerned about how their
stomachs will behave once they get into weightlessness.
Bob Cabana: I'll never forget my first flight.
We're sitting around the table and one of my crewmembers,
it's his first flight and after the cameras all left,
he's got steak and eggs and hash browns and coffee and
He's pouring hot sauce on and my commander looks over and goes, "Ah, going for color and distance, I see."
NARRATOR: Like the rest of the facilities in crew quarters, the bedrooms are not extravagant, but they work.
Bob Cabana: You know, it's just a very small room.
You've got a desk, a bed and a shower and a toilet in the bathroom.
Very sparse, but very functional. It's very quiet.
It's an elevated floor back here with sound insulation underneath,
sound insulation up above and so crews that are on weird schedules can actually come in here and get some sleep.
NARRATOR: But a quiet room doesn't always do the trick when a launch is waiting the next day.
Bob Cabana: ?it's not anxious, it's just, you want to get off and go do it.
In fact, one of the hardest things,
some of the folks really like coming down to crew quarters and just relaxing a little bit before
they fly and I came down and it was like, oh, I want to launch. We're here,
let's launch tomorrow. You know, but you can't do that right away.
NARRATOR: A new conference room was built to accommodate the larger crews of
the shuttle and International Space Station, including foreign crew members.
Bob Cabana: This is where they go over all the flight data file,
get any changes, updates, they get the weather briefing on the screens here.
It's a place to come and relax. We have simulators that simulate robotic arm operations for
both shuttle and station as well as a simulator that lets you actually land the
space shuttle and it's a pretty good simulation.
NARRATOR: Space is a lousy place to get sick. So specially trained doctors and nurses,
along with exam rooms, are on hand to make sure everyone stays well before heading into orbit.
Bob Cabana: Pre- and post-launch there are examinations that have to be done,
you got to go see the doc, if anybody got sick while they were in crew quarters
they had to go see the flight doc and just make sure.
It's those last-minute checks that everything's OK and it's just
the standard exam rooms and a private place to meet with the doctor.
NARRATOR: A staff is on hand to take care of all the aspects of an astronaut
crew's day, from housekeeping to scheduling.
Bob Cabana: The people down here are family. They get to know you.
The folks that run crew quarters, they keep it clean, they cook for you.
I mean, they are friends that I've made for life and have bonded with from my time down here.
NARRATOR: As much as the crew quarters is set up to mirror everyday life,
there are rooms that are meant solely for the unique demands of going into space.
Bob Cabana: All right, of course, you guys have seen this on TV hundreds of times.
This is the suit room, where the crew gets suited up to actually go fly in space.
You're tight with the suit techs that are working with you and it's that last,
"Hey, we're getting ready to go fly in space. It's really, it's a big deal, it's kind of neat.
NARRATOR: There's also a launch day tradition that plays out in this room.
Bob Cabana: Probably the biggest tradition is the game Fargo Possum.
Fargo Possum is low-handed poker and the rule is you can't leave crew quarters
and go launch until the commander wins the hand, has the lowest hand, and that sometimes takes awhile.
STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson: All right! Now we can fly!
NARRATOR: Now suited for space, and following several days at crew quarters,
the astronauts get to take a walk through the corridor to the elevator that
will take them to the waiting Astrovan and out to the launch pad.
Cabana served as the Flight Operations Director during a number of shuttle missions,
watching over the astronauts as they prepared to head into orbit.
His advice to fliers was pretty simple: Let it sink in.
Bob Cabana: Mostly what I tell first-time fliers is, when you get ready,
and you?re up in space and you have a free minute, make a memory.
Stick your nose up to a window and make a memory because the eyes
God gave you are so much better than any camera.
And when you look at a camera picture when you get home, you're disappointed.
It's just not as vibrant, it's just not as real as it is when you just look out the window and make a memory.