Pumpkin-suit's Manual Preview #2

Aim Higher.

 Pumpkin-suit's Manual Preview #2

        Here is another  brief excerpt from Pumpkin-Suit's Manual on Astronaut Training.  It's just fluff-text at this point; the mechanics will be covered in Templates for the D6 systems and probably background Feats in the D20 rules set.  The different types of specialties and departments will also be presented as D6 templates and as Talent Trees in D20. 
Anyway, hope you like it!

COMM/AST

The majority of Mission Commanders and Flight Directors in both military and civilian life come from the Communications and Astrogation specialist field. These aqstronauts are trained not only in the operation of all flight avionics and radio equipment used aboard modern spacecraft, they are also highly drilled in information integration and the ability to make quick, effective decisions on little data. A proficient COMM/AST specialist often has a reputation for near prescient reasoning and intuition. This reputation is just as often completely justified.

 

Focused Skill: Spacecraft Operations: COMM/AST

 

Description: This Focused Skill covered piloting, astrogation, and communications systems aboard a spacecraft. In addition, COMM/AST also pertains to combat information systems and electronic warfare.

United States Space Forces Insignia

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Training

Astronauts require extensive and specialized training in order to qualify for spaceflight status in most polities. While the training programs used by individual nations varies, most involve a two-year course of study with the first three to six months spent in ground school, followed by another three to six months tour in orbit, where the candidates learn how to function in free-fall and drill in real-life conditions. The second half of the candidate's training usually involves a training cruise in deep-space aboard an Interplanetary Vehicle, where the candidates are expected to be fully qualified officers at the end of the deployment.

Non-government civilian space programs also exist in ever-growing numbers in the modern System. The most notable of these are based on the model originally pioneered by the Destiny Foundation, and may involve full-immersion training, extensive team building and psychological testing, and even the inclusion of entire families in the program. These types of programs typically also last two years, but spend as much as eighteen months on the ground as the school's sponsors test the candidates for optimal compatibility in skills and temperament.