Optimum Observer Response

Given the exceptional instrument array and real-time feedback on solar struc­ture and events, it was then up to the flight crew to respond in ways that max­imized the new and important information in the returned data. Thus, the task before flight was to provide the observers with the best possible train­ing. But the training program had a few challenges: the time available was

limited by the approaching launch dates and demands of other mandatory training and by the backgrounds of the observers ranging from test pilots with little science expertise to scientists who had a good understanding of physics and some of solar physics. In the end each crewman had to possess a working knowledge of solar physics and an expertise in performing the atm tasks. The first challenge was a given, and all that could be done was done to carve out as much time as humanly possible. In meeting the sec­ond challenge, each and every potential observer demonstrated the nature and mental disposition to maximize their learning. Some understood that they would be expected to operate the instruments with negligible errors as a highly skilled technician. Others understood that they would be required to be not only highly skilled technicians but to also alter the in-flight oper­ations in real time as their scientific judgment dictated. All nine crewmen who flew responded to the very best of their individual abilities.

Along with the excellent procedures trainer that was provided, a major amount of solar physics classroom instruction was accomplished. “Our class­room trainer was a godsend: Dr. Frank Orrall, a practicing solar physicist and observer, a highly dedicated instructor, and a man of exceptional humor and patience,” Gibson recalled. “His knowledge and enthusiasm left their marks on every one of us. Upon the conclusion of his instruction, he was presented a picture signed by each of the crewmen he instructed. The photo was one of the whole sun that clearly displayed its supergranulation, the large, nearly circular cells that crowd together on the surface. Some of the crewmen who had previously made lunar flights labeled a few of the cells with the names of craters they had studied on the moon—a way to pull Frank’s chain about how much they had learned about the sun. He loved it.”