NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren corrals the supply of fresh fruit that arrived on the Kounotori 5 H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-5.) (Photo : NASA)
The crew residing aboard the International Space Station experience a unique life that only 218 people in the world know. Even if the astronauts' daily routine may sound familiar to most people, the mundane daily tasks become more challenging in a microgravity environment inside a space laboratory that travels in space at 5 miles every second, some 250 miles above the surface of Earth.
The most frequently asked question about astronaut living in space is how to do one's "business" in zero gravity which can cause a floating situation or even worse. According to ISS commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore who was in charge of the space station from November 2014 to March 2015, he reveals how an astronaut can get a "brown trout" where the "fish" escape so you have to catch them with a wet wipe to place them back where they need to go.
The ISS toilet may appear like your normal bathroom with a standard commode, complete with a lid and a seat, however, since there is no gravity, crewmembers had to hold on to numerous handles and use various restraints to maintain in a correct position.
Apart from this, astronauts also have a unique "waste collection system" where a device shaped like a hose can vacuum urine from the body and keeps solid waste in place to be deposited into a plastic bag and into the toilet can. The urine will now be filtered and purified, recycling it to become drinking water for the astronauts.
Another interesting aspect of living in space is how astronauts prepare and enjoy their meals. Meals aboard the ISS may seem more like space takeout as food is packed efficiently so they will not float away and damage scientific equipment on the space lab.
Wilmore reveals that astronauts still do gather around for meals where they hover around each other, where they use spoons with long handles into their individual portions of food packs filled with pre-made, vacuum sealed food.
"Cooking" in microgravity means heating these food packets in a device shaped like a briefcase with hot plates inside to hold the package tightly. The space station packs dehydrated meals for lighter shipment and for them to stay preserved longer than the military Meals Ready to Eat packs. Salt and pepper also come in liquid form. Wilmore's favorites are the ISS meatloaf and the chicken with peanut sauce, saying that anything can be eaten with the right condiments.
More than anything, an astronaut's diet should prevent weight loss to build bone, muscle and cardiovascular strength in space according to Scott Smith from the Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Astronauts are also required to take Vitamin D supplements since there are months that they can experience no sunlight and also to drink lots of water to adapt to the dry environment of space.
