By Marlo Anderson – The Tech Ranch
On the space station, everything floats. Everything. So every daily chore, from breakfast to bedtime to bathroom breaks, needs a space trick.
Why No Bread?
In space, crumbs don’t fall; they float, and they can get into eyes and equipment. So astronauts eat tortillas instead. Space tortillas stay good for about 18 months.
Dinner in Orbit
Lots of space food comes dried in pouches: add water, warm it up and dinner’s ready. There’s no fridge for food on the space station, and no sink either. Utensils get wiped clean.
Bedtime in Space
Each astronaut gets a tiny cabin about the size of a phone booth and sleeps in a sleeping bag strapped to the wall. With no ‘up,’ any direction is comfy. On average they get about 6 hours of sleep.
16 Sunrises a Day
The station circles Earth about every 90 minutes, so the crew sees about 16 sunrises a day. Light is the biggest thing that throws off their body clocks, so sleep masks and earplugs help.
The Space Toilet
Without gravity, nothing falls into the toilet, so fans pull waste away like a vacuum cleaner. Foot straps and thigh bars keep astronauts in place.
Recycled Water
Water is heavy to launch, so the station recycles it. Sweat, moisture from breath and even urine get cleaned, and about 98% of the water is recovered. Each astronaut uses about a gallon a day.
Bonus Fact: No Showers
There are no showers on the space station. Astronauts take sponge baths with two washcloths, one to wash and one to rinse, and use no-rinse shampoo.
More Space Travel, Explained
This is part of my Space Travel Explained series: big space questions, answered in plain English with simple animations. Watch the whole series on YouTube and subscribe to The Tech Ranch so you don’t miss the next one.
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