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NARRATOR: Even astronauts need a place to stay before they rocket into space.

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For the crews of the space shuttle, launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida,

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that place was the astronaut crew quarters, a set of bedrooms,

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offices and facilities built into the center's Operations and Checkout Building.

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Resembling a college dorm, the crew quarters doesn't scream technology and space

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as much as it whispers comfort and familiarity.

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And that's the idea, give the astronauts a place to relax,

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eat and sleep before they go to work in space on missions that will mark

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some of the most taxing times in their lives.

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Bob Cabana, KSC Administrator & Former Astronaut: My first impression when I arrived was, wow,

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I'm in astronaut crew quarters. I mean, you walk in, it was before it had been remodeled,

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on my first flight, and these are the rooms that the Apollo astronauts stayed in.

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There's nothing fancy about it, it's not going to the Ritz Carlton,

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it wasn't even a Motel 6, but it was astronaut crew quarters and that was really special.

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NARRATOR: Gemini astronauts were the first to stay in the crew quarters.

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All the Apollo astronauts slept here before going to the moon.

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The facility grew when the space shuttles began taking more and more people into space at a time.

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The aura of crew quarters grew with each landing and each new spaceflight achievement, even among the astronauts.

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A couple of the rooms were seen publicly on launch day, but most of it

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remained a mystery until the shuttle's retirement.

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Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, a former astronaut who spent many nights in

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crew quarters preparing for his missions or helping others get ready for theirs,

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showed off some of the lesser-known areas of the facility,

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along with the spots that are familiar to space program enthusiasts.

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Bob Cabana: The dining room, what you guys probably remember seeing all the time is the

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crew sitting at the table and they're all smiling and everybody's up,

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ready for launch and they're in their crew shirts and they take general shots of

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everybody and then they move off and the crew actually sits down and eats.

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NARRATOR: The cooks at crew quarters have to accommodate a range of tastes,

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keeping in mind that astronauts are often concerned about how their

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stomachs will behave once they get into weightlessness.

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Bob Cabana: I'll never forget my first flight.

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We're sitting around the table and one of my crewmembers,

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it's his first flight and after the cameras all left,

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he's got steak and eggs and hash browns and coffee and

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He's pouring hot sauce on and my commander looks over and goes, "Ah, going for color and distance, I see."

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NARRATOR: Like the rest of the facilities in crew quarters, the bedrooms are not extravagant, but they work.

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Bob Cabana: You know, it's just a very small room.

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You've got a desk, a bed and a shower and a toilet in the bathroom.

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Very sparse, but very functional. It's very quiet.

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It's an elevated floor back here with sound insulation underneath,

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sound insulation up above and so crews that are on weird schedules can actually come in here and get some sleep.

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NARRATOR: But a quiet room doesn't always do the trick when a launch is waiting the next day.

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Bob Cabana: ?it's not anxious, it's just, you want to get off and go do it.

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In fact, one of the hardest things,

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some of the folks really like coming down to crew quarters and just relaxing a little bit before

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they fly and I came down and it was like, oh, I want to launch. We're here,

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let's launch tomorrow. You know, but you can't do that right away.

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NARRATOR: A new conference room was built to accommodate the larger crews of

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the shuttle and International Space Station, including foreign crew members.

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Bob Cabana: This is where they go over all the flight data file,

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get any changes, updates, they get the weather briefing on the screens here.

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It's a place to come and relax. We have simulators that simulate robotic arm operations for

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both shuttle and station as well as a simulator that lets you actually land the

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space shuttle and it's a pretty good simulation.

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NARRATOR: Space is a lousy place to get sick. So specially trained doctors and nurses,

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along with exam rooms, are on hand to make sure everyone stays well before heading into orbit.

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Bob Cabana: Pre- and post-launch there are examinations that have to be done,

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you got to go see the doc, if anybody got sick while they were in crew quarters

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they had to go see the flight doc and just make sure.

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It's those last-minute checks that everything's OK and it's just

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the standard exam rooms and a private place to meet with the doctor.

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NARRATOR: A staff is on hand to take care of all the aspects of an astronaut

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crew's day, from housekeeping to scheduling.

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Bob Cabana: The people down here are family. They get to know you.

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The folks that run crew quarters, they keep it clean, they cook for you.

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I mean, they are friends that I've made for life and have bonded with from my time down here.

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NARRATOR: As much as the crew quarters is set up to mirror everyday life,

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there are rooms that are meant solely for the unique demands of going into space.

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Bob Cabana: All right, of course, you guys have seen this on TV hundreds of times.

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This is the suit room, where the crew gets suited up to actually go fly in space.

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You're tight with the suit techs that are working with you and it's that last,

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"Hey, we're getting ready to go fly in space. It's really, it's a big deal, it's kind of neat.

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NARRATOR: There's also a launch day tradition that plays out in this room.

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Bob Cabana: Probably the biggest tradition is the game Fargo Possum.

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Fargo Possum is low-handed poker and the rule is you can't leave crew quarters

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and go launch until the commander wins the hand, has the lowest hand, and that sometimes takes awhile.

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STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson: All right! Now we can fly!

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NARRATOR: Now suited for space, and following several days at crew quarters,

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the astronauts get to take a walk through the corridor to the elevator that

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will take them to the waiting Astrovan and out to the launch pad.

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Cabana served as the Flight Operations Director during a number of shuttle missions,

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watching over the astronauts as they prepared to head into orbit.

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His advice to fliers was pretty simple: Let it sink in.

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Bob Cabana: Mostly what I tell first-time fliers is, when you get ready,

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and you?re up in space and you have a free minute, make a memory.

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Stick your nose up to a window and make a memory because the eyes

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God gave you are so much better than any camera.