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A sophisticated visual system, like an expensive video game, generates views out all the windows, so astronauts can practice landings, star sightings, rendezvous, and even operations with the robot arm.

When the crew goes into the simulator, they close the door behind them. The only ones who monitor their actions, reactions, mistakes and revelations are the trainers who sit outside at computer consoles controlling the simulation, putting in failures for the crew to discover, or problems for them to solve. The relationship between the astronauts and their trainers is an important one, and takes on a character of its own. The training team is responsible for the most important aspect of our training: training in the shuttle simulator. They are in voice contact with the crew, and available for instruction or consultation--and conversation if the simulator temporarily breaks, or the session gets a little dull. 

A typical simulator session lasts for four hours. Some sessions are devoted to practicing launches, some are devoted to practicing landings, and some are devoted to practicing the things that the crew will be asked to do on orbit. During a session to practice launches, the commander, pilot, and flight engineer strap themselves into the "motion base" simulator (a simulator which is free to move and vibrate), and the training team runs them through simulation after simulation, each starting 2 minutes before lift-off, and continuing until the simulated Shuttle either