Career as Astronauts

• Train extensively for going aboard a space flight and fulfill the objectives of the mission
• Undergo rigorous medical and physical tests and training for accomplishing optimal results on the mission
• Play their specified role as commander or pilot or mission specialists who could be engineers, doctors, meteorologists, astronomers, biologists or scientists from other disciplines depending on the purpose of the mission

Commander

• Takes the overall responsibility of the mission and keeps the entire team in constant communication with mission control
• Manoeuvers the orbiter, oversees the activity of the crew and their work and is responsible for the success and safety of the flight

Pilot

• Assists the commander in his role
• Deploy satellites for making observations in space and retrieve them on completion of the task
• Service the satellites for further deployment
• Sometime carry out work outside the shuttle

Mission specialists

• Work in labs in the space ship which may be related to earth science, astronomical observations, manufacturing or materials depending on the payload
• Carry out tasks outside the craft and operate remote manipulating systems to handle the different assigned tasks
• Operate different kinds of observation and recording gadgets such as cameras, sensors, electrodes, telescopes etc.