How to Prepare for a Space Flight: Physical and Mental Training

Almost everyone asks the same thing first: am I physically up to this? For a suborbital flight, the bar is far lower than most people expect. The training is real, but it is built around ordinary people, not career astronauts. Here is what to expect, and how it differs between a short suborbital hop and a multi-day orbital mission.

Suborbital training: one day, not one year

For a suborbital flight with Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic, training is typically completed in a single day or two on site. There is no fitness test to pass and no academic course to complete. The focus is on safety and comfort: how to move around the cabin, how to get into and out of your seat and restraints, what the G-forces will feel like on ascent and descent, and what to do in the unlikely event of an emergency.

You will rehearse the sequence of the flight repeatedly so that nothing on the day is a surprise. Because the whole experience lasts only about ten to fifteen minutes, the goal is simply to make sure you are calm, oriented, and able to enjoy the few precious minutes of weightlessness rather than fumbling with procedures.

Orbital training: months, and much more rigorous

Orbital missions are a different undertaking entirely. An Axiom Space mission to the International Space Station involves several months of training, much of it at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and partner facilities. You learn the systems of the Dragon spacecraft and the station, emergency procedures, how to operate in microgravity for days at a time, and how to live and work alongside a crew in a confined environment.

This is necessary because, unlike a suborbital passenger, an orbital crew member must function as part of the mission (responding to contingencies, conducting experiments, and maintaining the spacecraft) for one to two weeks far from any possibility of rescue.

The medical screening

Every operator begins with a medical evaluation, but the threshold is more permissive than the old astronaut-corps stereotype suggests. The aim is not peak athletic performance; it is confirming that your body can tolerate the specific stresses of flight — chiefly the G-forces of ascent and re-entry and the brief shift to weightlessness.

Suborbital flight has carried people across an enormous age range; William Shatner flew at 90, and Wally Funk at 82. Many common conditions (controlled high blood pressure, corrected vision, past orthopedic surgery) are not automatically disqualifying. What operators look for are conditions that could turn dangerous under acceleration or in a setting where immediate medical care is impossible, such as serious uncontrolled cardiovascular disease or certain recent surgeries. The only way to know your status is a screening with the operator’s flight surgeons.

What the G-forces actually feel like

The physical sensation people most want to prepare for is acceleration. During ascent and especially re-entry, you experience G-forces — several times your body weight pressing into your seat. On a suborbital profile this can briefly reach the range of three to six G depending on the vehicle.

Some orbital programs use a centrifuge (a spinning arm that simulates sustained G-loads) so trainees know exactly how their body responds before flight. The techniques you learn are straightforward: a particular way of tensing your muscles and controlling your breathing to keep blood from pooling away from your brain. None of it requires elite fitness, but practicing it removes the fear of the unknown.

Adapting to weightlessness

Once the engines cut off, you are weightless. It is exhilarating, but the body needs a moment to adjust, and a significant fraction of people feel a brief wave of disorientation or nausea — the well-documented space adaptation syndrome. On a suborbital flight there is barely time for it to set in; on an orbital mission it usually passes within the first day or two as your inner ear recalibrates.

Many trainees experience true weightlessness ahead of time on a parabolic flight — an aircraft that flies a series of arcs, each producing roughly 20–30 seconds of zero gravity. It is the single best way to rehearse how to move, orient, and simply enjoy floating before the real thing.

The mental side

Preparation is not only physical. Sitting strapped into a capsule on top of a rocket is a profound psychological experience, and operators take the mental side seriously. Trainees work on managing the intensity of launch, staying oriented during the rush of sensations, and, for orbital crews, coping with confinement and close quarters for days.

Many travelers also describe an unexpected emotional response to seeing Earth from space, the so-called overview effect. Knowing it is coming, and giving yourself permission to simply take it in, is part of being ready. Our guide on what it actually feels like to go to space covers that experience in detail.

A typical training timeline

For a suborbital flight, the timeline is compressed. You arrive at the spaceport a few days before launch, complete a day or two of training and rehearsals, and fly. Much of the on-site time is spent learning the cabin, practicing ingress and egress, and walking through the flight profile so that the day itself feels familiar.

For an orbital mission, plan on several months. Training is spread across blocks at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and partner facilities, covering spacecraft systems, the station’s layout and rules, emergency and depressurization procedures, microgravity living, and crew coordination. It is closer to a part-time job than a holiday booking, and operators expect a serious time commitment in the run-up to flight.

The day of the flight

On launch day for a suborbital flight, you suit up, receive a final weather and safety briefing, and board the capsule or spaceplane a short while before launch. The waiting is often the most nerve-testing part; once the engines light, training takes over and the sequence you rehearsed unfolds quickly.

There are practical constraints to know in advance: personal items are tightly limited for weight and safety reasons, though operators typically allow a small number of keepsakes and provide commemorative gear. Comfort details (hydration, when you last eat, how to manage the suit) are all covered in your briefings, and following them closely makes the experience far smoother.

How to get a head start on your own

You do not need to train like an astronaut to prepare sensibly. A few things genuinely help:

• Cardiovascular fitness. A healthy heart and lungs make G-tolerance and recovery easier. Regular aerobic exercise is the highest-value preparation you can do.
• Comfort with motion. If you are prone to motion sickness, building tolerance, and discussing it with the flight surgeons, pays off.
• A parabolic flight. Booking a zero-gravity parabolic flight is the closest civilians can get to rehearsing weightlessness.
• Honesty in screening. Disclose your full medical history. The screening exists to keep you safe, and surprises in flight are exactly what it is designed to prevent.

Something to do before the training starts

Most of what’s above only becomes relevant once you actually have a seat booked, and for most readers that’s still months or years away. In the meantime, the cheapest way to build the habit of looking up is also the most direct: a decent pair of astronomy binoculars or a beginner telescope gets you actually watching the sky tonight, not just reading about G-forces you haven’t felt yet.

The bottom line: for a suborbital flight, an ordinary healthy adult can be flight-ready after a day of training. Orbital flight demands months of preparation and a higher medical bar — but it remains achievable for committed civilians, not just professional astronauts.