What You Don't Know About Living in Space

Ant writes "There are spectacular moments, as well as the mundane, in space. Over the years, living in space has forced astronauts to make a few concessions to things you would not give a second thought about when staying at a hotel/motel. The article lists a few things that people may not have known about living in space." Your iPod needs to be modified to use Alkaline batteries. And also, did you know... that in space... you only get one spooooon. And some people, are spoon millionaires...

New business model

[Tejin (818001)]

1. Go to space 2. Take spoons and become a spoon baron 3. ???? 4. Profit

No one can hear you scream?

[mfnickster (182520)]

Personally, I enjoy people being able to hear me scream at the Holiday Inn. :)

Re:No one can hear you scream?

[sumdumass (711423)]

I was in the room next to your last year, trust me, I didn't enjoy it a bit. And what were you screaming about anyways? There was no one in the room with you but it sounded like an orgy going on over there.

From TFA...

[snl2587 (1177409)]

Astronauts' meals are color coded on shuttle missions -- and reliable sources tell ABC News some astronauts aren't above switching the colored dots on their dehydrated meals if they have run out of say, lasagna, on day six and have way too much creamed spinach left.

[Insert Garfield joke here.]

Re:From TFA...

[LrdDimwit (1133419)]

I'm sorry. Perhaps I'm missing something, but no matter how many times I read that statement, it says "Garfield" immediately followed by "joke". Is this some new variant of the Chewbacca Defense?

Re:From TFA...

[Ford Prefect (8777)]

Oi. Garfield is still hilarious - if you remove the eponymous cat [tumblr.com]...

Re:From TFA...

[Daetrin (576516)]

What i'd like to know is, if one of the astronauts really likes lasagna and doesn't like creamed spinach, then why doesn't NASA give them more lasagna and less creamed spinach?? These flights cost millions(?) of dollars and require the planning of thousands(?) of people. Is giving the astronauts a choice of which freeze dried tv dinner trays they take with them somehow too difficult or expensive?

No pizza?

[nebaz (453974)]

When I was a kid, I really wanted to be an astronaut. When I was told though that they had a 6 foot tall maximum height requirement, I was devastated. (I'm not sure if this is still true, I've later heard of 6'2" astronauts). Regardless, now I don't feel so bad, as they do not have pizza in space. How do they cope?

No Pizza?

[szyzyg (7313)]

Funnily enough a friend and I were recently discussing the interesting geometric possibilities which would be possible when cooking in zero g, one of the recipies we came up with was the sperical pizza, where the dough gets inflated into a sphere (you need the air because the pizza dough would want to shrink) and the topping get layered around the outside, all of course being stick to the dough using the sticky marinara sauce.
This could then be cooked in an oven with the 'inflation pipe' blowing hot air into the middle to cook the dough, and also acting to keep the 'space pizza' in the middle of the oven.

The result, pizza with no crusts!

Re:

[by Anonymous Coward]

Great idea, but do you cut it geodesically or geographically?

Dibs on the pentagonal pieces!

Re:No Pizza?

[synth7 (311220)]

Spherical pizza would be difficult to cook properly, though. Frankly I think you'd be much better off to cook a cylindrical pizza in a centerfuge, with the toppings on the inside.

In fact... I think I need to file a patent on this method...

No laundry

[GersonK (541726)]

"Their T-shirts, socks and underwear have a special silver thread lining that absorbs odor and keeps items wearable longer." "Now this is made from a space-age fabric specially designed for Elvis. Sweat actually cleans this suit!"

Silver-lining Laundry

[GWLlosa (800011)]

So they have laundry that is special treated to go for weeks without being washed. Is it a bad sign that my first thought is "Man, if I had that, I wouldnt' have to do my own laundry so often! Where can I order some?!"

Re:

[echucker (570962)]

You can buy it any place that carries hunting clothing. Undergarments with silver threads as an anti-bacterial agent are commonplace at stores like Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops. They're used primarily by bowhunters to reduce human scent when stalking prey with a good sense of smell.

There IS Icre Cream in Space

[langelgjm (860756)]

According to the article, "There is also no ice cream in space. No freezer." But besides freeze-dried ice cream, [wikipedia.org] according to this blog, [livescience.com] they actually did have frozen ice cream on the ISS.

Re:There IS Icre Cream in Space

[Lumpy (12016)]

correct, there are refrigeration units for food on the ISS. they have things like Milk, OJ, IceCream (real) and other things like that. The article is incredibly out of date or based on bad information. Most of the meals do not require forks, spoons, etc... Some do but the astronauts typically dont use them unless it's a photo-op for news.

Also lots of the other items are off. the ISS has regular garbage runs, Progress supply ships turn into garbage containers for the return trip/burnup. you finish all your food because you are on an incredibly scripted and designed diet for you. The portion you were given was designed for you and it is incredibly important to your health to eat your diet plan. Ipods may have been banned but other mp3 players that use a approved battery design (AA cell size) have been welcome for a long time now and the ISS crew is allowed several personal items.

Besides, a year ago the sent up a mp3 player loaded with songs that some Norwegian girl chose as music for people in space, that mp3 player model was certified for use and is in use by ISS personnel. Just because they cant have a Trendy Ipod means nothing to them.

Re:There IS Icre Cream in Space

[Locklin (1074657)]

Would it not be easy to have an unheated compartment insulated from the ISS, with 5 sides exposed to open space and in a shadow? I'm sure it would get cold enough (by heat radiation), and it would probably be useful to have a freezer to keep food/experiments fresh.

Re:There IS Icre Cream in Space

[NMerriam (15122)]

Would it not be easy to have an unheated compartment insulated from the ISS, with 5 sides exposed to open space and in a shadow? I'm sure it would get cold enough (by heat radiation), and it would probably be useful to have a freezer to keep food/experiments fresh.

Things don't need to be heated in space, they need to be cooled. Radiation is generally not a very efficient way to get rid of waste heat, so it's usually quite warm in any enclosed space. So no, you can't really keep stuff cool without active refrigeration, which generates heat of its own that has to be radiated, so you don't want to do any more than necessary.

Implications for exploring other planets

[HangingChad (677530)]

Carries a lot of implications for traveling to even near by planets, with travel time measured in months instead of days. It's tough enough to manage consumables, but traveling to Mars without a change of clothes or some way to launder them is a huge technical challenge all on its own. Maybe clothing becomes another consumable, dispose after using. And you have to pack enough groceries to sustain the entire trip, grow your own or starve if there's a mishap.

And those are our near neighbors, even living on the moon. Extended life in space is going to involve a lot of research. Let's face it, we're adapted for life on this planet. Trying to carry these living conditions across space is not only a technical challenge, it's a financial one as well. Who's going to pay for all this technology? All the lift capacity to get it into space and...then what? If we set up a moon base, we have to supply it. That's not going to be cheap. A Mars trip...even more expensive.

Re:Implications for exploring other planets

[element-o.p. (939033)]

Queen Isabella to Christopher Columbus: Carries a lot of implications for traveling to even near continents, with travel time measured in months instead of days...And you have to pack enough groceries to sustain the entire trip, grow your own or starve if there's a mishap. And those are our near neighbors, even the West Indies. Sailing across the ocean is going to involve a lot of research. Let's face it, we're adapted to life on land. Trying to carry these living conditions across the ocean is not only a technical challenge, it's a financial one as well...

But somehow, they figured it out, and we will, too.

Re:Implications for exploring other planets

[chazbet (621421)]

Bad analogy.

Ocean going ships are traveling in an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere at 1 G. All you need are sufficient provisions, and if you want a change in diet, throw a net or line over the side for some fish. Space ships are in Space (near vacuum, no gravity, nothing).

Grow up, future space cadets. Space travel is not Star Trek.

Re:Implications for exploring other planets

[element-o.p. (939033)]

You are talking about a quantitative rather than qualitative difference. Navigation was difficult in the 15th and 16th centuries. Weather was unpredictable. Power was by virtue of the wind -- too much or too little and the ships go nowhere. While you can fill your belly with fish, it is not a nutritionally complete food (can you say "scurvy"?). And if the early sea travelers got in over their heads (no pun intended), they were on their own. They had to be every bit as self-sufficient as current and future space travelers will have to be.

My point was not that space travel will be easy -- it won't. My point was that the early explorers of the New World faced very serious problems that pushed the limit of their science and technology, and space travelers in our age will also have to face problems that challenge the limits of our science and technology. But mankind has always risen to the challenge; we will do so again.

Food in space/Antarctic

[by Anonymous Coward]

When I was posted in Antarctica for a year they gave us all a questionnaire about what foods we liked/disliked, to determine what to put in my food parcel. When I got over there I found they had packed all the foods I didn't like ! It's supposed to stop you scoffing all your food quickly. I was thinking of killing and eating penguin within a week.

Bastards.

I imagine space expeditions such as a manned Mars mission will use a similar methodology - fussy eaters beware when you fill in the form !

Illusion and reality

[Kupfernigk (1190345)]

Prof. Hawking thinks the only hope for the human race is to colonise space. And after 50 years of trying, people still have to take their underwear home to wash it just as if they were students. The gap between the fantasy (sending large numbers of humans with the equipment to colonise other planets across vast distances) and the reality - it will take nearly three weeks of testing before they have the nerve to try to dock a 7 tonne pod to the ISS, and we can barely keep a few people going a few hundred miles up - is literally astronomical.

Given the huge success of unmanned missions to the planets, it really is very tempting to ask, why don't we just stop doing this stuff. Either we are going to have a planetary energy crisis, and will have to stop wasting vast amounts of fuel on sending people to orbit, or we will find a clever fix, and so be able to do this much more cheaply at some future date. It seems pointless to do something not very useful at the limit of human capability when there are so many more interesting engineering problems to solve - energy efficient housing and vehicles, efficient and cheap solar power, all need the technologies used in manned spaceflight, but on a different scale and in different ways. A ten year moratorium on manned spaceflight with the effort entirely going into solving energy supply and global warming problems could have a huge payback.

Re:Illusion and reality

[TheLink (130905)]

Well I think they are doing things wrong. They keep talking about travelling to Mars etc when what they should do is focus on building much better space stations. Once you have a space station with artificial "gravity", decent radiation shielding, and all the other good stuff so that astronauts can live on it for years without suffering so much like the russian astronauts, then you can talk about travelling. In fact people might then prefer to travel to the asteroid belt instead - get raw materials for building more space stations without having to spend lots of energy fighting a gravity well.

They might also want to try out tethered satellites. Instead of a full space elevator right from the start, try suspending the "comms/sensor" bits of the satellite closer to earth, with the counter weight at the other end (solar panels etc), so that the satellite is still in geostationary orbit, but you have much better comms latencies. I suspect some people are willing to pay a premium for lower latency sat comms. If they can't even do such satellites then I think trying for a space elevator is silly.

Re:Illusion and reality

[rhakka (224319)]

exactly how is this "clever fix" going to happen if we are not actively working with the knowledge we have and trying to improve it again?

Are you assuming that we get no technological benefit here on earth trying to solve these things at the "limit of human capability"?

You could just as easily flip your arguement around and say that one of the ways we get to develope things like better solar panels is through the efforts of the space program. That sounds like synergy, not wasted effort, to me.

I have a MUCH BETTER idea. How about a ten year moratorium on WAR AGAINST PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T BOMBED US, with all that effort going solely to solve energy/environmental problems? That would have astronomically greater payback without also hacking at the very technological progress you are hoping to achieve.

They left off burping

[Solandri (704621)]

On earth, gravity striates your stomach contents so the heavier stuff is on the bottom and the gas is on the top. So when you burp it's mostly gas which comes up. In space, this doesn't happen, and burping is a lot like throwing up. So foods that make you burp, like carbonated beverages, are a no-no.

Re:They left off burping

[CharlieG (34950)]

Sounds like they need ullage rockets for the astronauts.... grin

There are reasons for no Pizza in space

[erroneus (253617)]

Among them are that pizza is a gravity sensitive food. There is an up side and a down side. The crust may be flaky or crumbly at times and that's a big problem in 0-G environments. But more than that is the possibility of liberated ingredients. I know it might seem funny to say it, but no one needs a "flying sausage in space."

I do like to say it though... heh... flying sausage...

Here's proof they do have iPods

[sighted (851500)]

As the Endeavor approached the space station this week, crew members on board the station snapped this shot [flickr.com].

The question is...

[the_skywise (189793)]

Do they use an FM transmitter, cassette adapter or did somebody modify the console with an Aux-in...

Re:The question is...

[k4_pacific (736911)]

It's the space shuttle, so I'm assuming they use an adapter that fits into the in-dash eight track player.

Seems they forgot a big one ...

[Ralconte (599174)]

The way I heard it, in microgravity, fluids accumulate in your respiratory tract. Being in space is like having a head cold, not exactly the best condition for getting good work done.

Re:spoon millionaires?

[Neon Spiral Injector (21234)]

Well, you don't need razors, because beards don't grow in space.

Re:spoon millionaires?

[MightyYar (622222)]

Source:
This documentary [youtube.com] :)

Re:spoon millionaires?

[plover (150551)]

RTFA, it's short.

The astronauts are issued one set of silverware per mission. It's not just a spoon. But because they cannot do dishes, they wipe them down with a disinfectant towlette at the end of each meal.

And since there is no money, as they approach the end of the mission whoever has squirreled away enough m&m's or tortillas has the most "bargaining power" to trade for whatever else is left.

Re:spoon millionaires?

[dotancohen (1015143)]

My god, you quoted the article! Mods, quick! +5 Informative!

Re:spoon millionaires?

[Z00L00K (682162)]

It's true that you may not need a spoon in space, but it may sure come in handy to have one sometimes anyway. Murphy's law always exists, and there are things that may be edible in space using a spoon like chocolate pudding.

Never mind that - the largest problem is to cut down on the amount of items that you may bring with you. I think that the best way to figure out what you REALLY need is to during several years going for extended hikes and holidays on bicycle. Note every item that you use and next year only pack those items. After a few years you know what you really can't do without.

From what I can understand most problems arises around hygiene handling in space. It can be a smelly situation...

Re:spoon millionaires?

[RockModeNick (617483)]

Actually I'm not sure they use spoons at all, anything you're allowed to eat that would be spoonable is sucked out of a sealed bag so it won't break up and jam equipment. I think you only get a knife and fork. And I'm pretty sure there's no crispy food, crumbs and all.

Re:spoon millionaires?

[Tony Hoyle (11698)]

So what you're saying is..

There is no spoon.

Re:I weep for national news services

[supremebob (574732)]

A lot of the article isn't accurate, either. For example, they've had freeze dried "astronaut ice cream" for decades! Almost every science museum that I've ever been to sells this stuff. I've heard that they've also tried "space pizza" prototypes as well.

I also find it hard to believe that the standard battery on an iPod is going to suddenly going to turn into an explosive device if they take it into space. That sounds like more of a bureaucratic oversight than anything else.

In space, no one can hear you scream for ice cream

[Geoffrey.landis (926948)]

A lot of the article isn't accurate, either. For example, they've had freeze dried "astronaut ice cream" for decades!

It turns out that "astronaut ice cream" really has little to do with spaceflight. According to Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] "Apollo 7 in 1968 was the only NASA mission on which space ice cream flew in outer space." Space ice cream was a special request for one of the Apollo missions," Kloeris said. "It wasn't that popular; most of the crew really didn't like it, so it isn't used any more. [nasa.gov]"

Re:I weep for national news services

[DrXym (126579)]

I also find it hard to believe that the standard battery on an iPod is going to suddenly going to turn into an explosive device if they take it into space. That sounds like more of a bureaucratic oversight than anything else.

They've caught fire [wsbtv.com] here on Earth. I expect the effect of such a fire in space would range anywhere from serious to catastrophic.

Re:I weep for national news services

[v1 (525388)]

I was going to post asking about the ice cream before. I've heard of freeze dried ice cream on several occasions, there are even places you can buy it here on earth. I have no idea how the process works, but it makes ice cream that does not need to be frozen.

As for the iPods, I'm sure that's a technicality. They are a bit paranoid about safety up there since you can't just dial 911 in an emergency and get help on the way in 9 minutes. They probably remove the batteries and then attach them to the external packs you can buy around here, that take four AA batteries.

It's also very likely they have an alternate adapter to jack into the ISS's grid to power it, a bit like a cigarette lighter jack but something smaller I'm sure. The batteries are probably only needed when they are inconveniently away from an outlet, or say out on a space walk.

I bet they have even more stringent requirements though for what you can take on your person when on a space walk. It would not surprise me if ipods are barred. And for some of those 8 and 11 hour marathon walks we hear about from time to time, that's gotta be a bummer.

I'm surprised this article gave so few details though - I've heard offhand of numerous other issues I was expecting to read about in this article. It had all of what, five interesting factoids? Lets hear about

- toilets
- showers
- drinking liquids
- anything to reduce weight on liftoff, like hair cutting
- I wonder if there's an "in case of emergency" bean-o pack on board? heh... y'know, one recirculating air system and all...
- the sorrid details of a long space walk. how do you drink? anything for food in 8-11 hr walks? yes, you get to wear a diaper and WILL be using it, etc
- stories of what happens when an astronaut gets sick - flu etc. I recall someone on Appolo getting appendicitis in mission.
- do astronauts sign an agreement not to have sex while up there? or how was that addressed? you know they had something to say about it.
- personal limitations? we saw max height mentioned, but is there a minimum? how about weight? (of course!) are implants ok? glasses barred am guessing? are contacts ok? medical history? I assume the same rules of being a pilot apply, plus more, as far as medical are concerned. Minimum strength requirements?
- what is their contingency plan for if an astronaut dies while up there? (aneurism, accident, whatever) Again you KNOW they have an action plan for this because they HAVE TO. Do they keep body bag(s) on board or just gonna wrap the body in a lot of duct tape?
- cross training? I have to assume all astronauts have at least basic knowledge of 100% of the critical systems?

That article is soooo lacking.

Re:

[TimHunter (174406)]

do astronauts sign an agreement not to have sex while up there? or how was that addressed?

I'm sure it won't surprise you to find out that you're not the first one to ask this question. Unca Cecil gave us the straight dope about it 11 years ago: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_214.html [straightdope.com]

Re:I weep for national news services

[Provocateur (133110)]

More importantly, is there a severe penalty if you brought along a fake face-hugger from "Alien"?

Re:I weep for national news services

[TubeSteak (669689)]

I also find it hard to believe that the standard battery on an iPod is going to suddenly going to turn into an explosive device if they take it into space. That sounds like more of a bureaucratic oversight than anything else.

FTFA: "Though iPods can fly on the space shuttle, when the shuttle docks to the space station, iPods can't cross over the hatch because they haven't been certified to fly on the space station yet."

It's not a "bureaucratic oversight".
NASA hasn't certified (those) lithium batteries for space.
And NASA hasn't certified iPods for use on the space station.
If it isn't tested, it doesn't fly.

It may seem like bureaucratic red tape, but that kind of meticulousness is what keeps the space program so safe.
On the upside, at least astronauts get to have iPods with replaceable batteries.

Re:Space,

[plover (150551)]

Space is big
Space is dark
It's hard to find
A place to park
Burma Shave

Re:

[RightSaidFred99 (874576)]

People seem to think outer space is cold. It isn't, it just has no temperature because there's nothing there. If you dump water in outer space it isn't going to just instantly freeze because the only way it loses heat is through radiating it out - nothing pulls the heat out of it.

Re:No ice cream? No Freezer?

[carambola5 (456983)]

You are correct, sir. Instead of freezing, the water would actually vaporize. The near-instantaneous drop in pressure trumps the comparatively slow radiative cooling process. If you remember your phase chart for water (you know, the one with the regions for solid, liquid, and gas and a triple point joining all three), the state would fall from the liquid region into the gas region before moving left into the solid region.

Then again, there is the sliver of possibility of freezing if the water is initially at 0C, but again, that's because the pressure drop brings it through the solid phase (then back into the gaseous phase). Radiative cooling doesn't cause the freeze.