SPACE — The concept of a ‘day’ aboard an orbiting spacecraft is a bit abstract: every 24 hours, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) will see 15 sunrises. But humans have been conditioned by millions of years of evolution, becoming accustomed to cycles 24 hours a day. Humans also have what is called a circadian rhythm, which is waking and sleeping that is programmed into our brains and bodies.
Because of this, astronauts work and sleep on a fixed schedule that conforms to these ancient rhythms. The crew was woken up by the alarm every ‘morning’ and got out of bed to start the day. Most astronauts will hook their sleeping bag to the wall.
The bed should be chosen carefully, and it is very important somewhere that the ventilation fan will fit. The airflow will make sleeping a little windy, but it’s better than sleeping in an airtight bed. There is no warm air on the night side of space so astronauts in poorly ventilated areas could be ‘attacked’ by the carbon dioxide bubbles they exhale themselves. As a result, astronauts will be deprived of oxygen. They can wake up with a splitting headache, or gasp for air…
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Some brave souls will try to sleep free-floating. But it will most likely be disturbed by collisions with air filters trying to suck them in. Together with the rest of the station’s equipment, all these fans and air filters make for a noisy night. Some astronauts call a job on the space station like living in a giant vacuum cleaner. Some astronauts prefer to sleep with earplugs.
But most astronauts eventually adjust to the noise, just as people on Earth are used to living on busy urban main roads. After all, the noise is coming from a system dedicated to keeping them alive.
Upon awakening, the astronauts tend to take on a fetal posture, moving effortlessly around the station. Sometimes referred to as ‘simian hunches’, humans’ natural attitude to microgravity. It might just be an echo of the several weightless months each growing embryo spends floating in its mother’s womb.
The crew will get dressed as soon as possible. Getting dressed is not an easy matter when our limbs are hovering at odd angles. They wear disposable clothes, changing them every three days because there are no washing machines in space. Astronauts usually wash with wet towels, there are no showers on the International Space Station.
Then, came the first day of three meals. Space food has improved tremendously in taste and variety, compared to the days of the Apollo mission astronauts where the food was completely frozen. However, extraterrestrial food is prepared and eaten under the same basic limits. If food and drink is not regulated, it will be dangerous for the survival of life there. Food waste will obviously be messy and unhygienic. Moreover, if free-falling food gets into the station equipment, it can be fatal.
Therefore, drinks and soups are served in plastic bags and slurped through a straw. But with a little caution, astronauts can eat more solid dishes with a knife and fork, the magnets will keep the utensils from drifting far from the dining table. Oh yes, prolonged microgravity can also dull the taste buds so astronauts usually like spicy food.
After eating, the astronauts would complete the tasks assigned for the day, either supervising experiments or performing routine maintenance on station equipment.
It takes a complex series of machines to keep people alive and well in orbit. Every day, each human inhales the equivalent of 0.9 kg of liquid oxygen and drinks a total of 2.7 kg of water. To minimize supply requirements, the ISS life support systems are designed to recycle as much as possible.
Wastewater from urine and condensed water vapor from air is purified and reused directly, or broken down by electrolysis to provide fresh oxygen. The carbon dioxide scrubber chemically removes the toxic gas from the air.
One of the substances that are not recycled on the ISS is human solid waste. It will be collected, compacted, and stored for disposal. The space toilet that does this gathering has a rather intimidating look, heheh ????.
However, it’s a huge improvement on the sanitary settings than previous astronauts have had to endure.
Space toilets do not use water. Instead, astronauts must first strap themselves to a toilet seat, which is equipped with a spring retaining rod to ensure a good seal. A lever operates a powerful fan and the intake port opens, and the airflow carries away waste neatly.
Some crew members found the ISS toilets too difficult to use. Apart from the device itself, they have to get used to the bewildering fact that their stomach actually floats inside their body, like any other internal organ, and of course everything in it.
A less stressful daily routine is exercise. The human body loses muscle and bone in a weightless state, a few hours of exercise every day will help to maintain some tone in a number of muscles. Exercise also helps relieve so-called ‘space snuffles’, which are caused when body fluids, which are no longer being pulled down by gravity, build up in the head.
Like Russia’s retired Mir station, the ISS has a treadmill, as well as an exercise bike. For this sport, the astronauts had to strap themselves to an exercise machine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCoqCUB1QC0
Generally, days in orbit are rather hectic, and when heavy equipment has to be moved, it can also be tiring. Just because a scientific toolbox is weightless doesn’t mean it has lost mass. Astronauts have to pull and push against inertia, and they often work in odd positions, where human muscles don’t adapt well.
However, the crew will usually have some free time before going to bed. These hours were very precious to them. This is a time when they can write home emails, watch DVDs, or send messages for fun on ham radio.
People on Earth can do these things too, of course. But land dwellers won’t be able to share the most popular recreational experience in space: watching the Earth spin. Whatever it was, astronauts could swear, the sight would never be boring.
Source: ESA
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