8/8/2019 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Living in Outer Space

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10 Facts you Didn't Know about Living in Outer Space

During one day you will experience 16 sunrises

The sun rises and sets every 90 minutes in low Earth orbit, making it really hard to sleepwell due to the absence of normal day/night cycles. To counteract this, ISSadministrators set astronauts' schedules on a 24-hour, Earth-based timetable to keep

their activity as grounded as possible. The clocks onboard the ISS are set to GreenwichMean Time (GMT), about halfway between Houston, Tex., and Moscow. To keepastronauts on that schedule, Mission Control sends wake-up calls to shuttle missions.They typically play music, which is either requested by an astronaut or an astronaut'sfamily member. Astronauts on the ISS, on the other hand, wake up with the help of analarm.

You will grow taller

Without the compressive force of gravity, your spinal column expands and you growtaller, usually by between 5 and 8 cm. Unfortunately, the extra height can bringcomplications, which may include backache and nerve problems.

8/8/2019 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Living in Outer Space

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You may stop snoring

A 2001 study showed that astronauts who snored on Earth snoozed silently in space.That's because gravity plays a dominant role in the generation of apneas, hypopneas,and snoring. It's possible for astronauts to snore in space, and NASA has evenrecorded crewmembers doing so, but the effects of zero gravity appear to reducesnoring.

Some food and condiments require adding water to be eaten in space

In space, salt and pepper are available but only in a liquid form. This is becauseastronauts can't sprinkle salt and pepper on their food in space. The salt and pepperwould simply float away. There is a danger they could clog air vents, contaminateequipment or get stuck in an astronaut's eyes, mouth or nose.

8/8/2019 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Living in Outer Space

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8/8/2019 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Living in Outer Space

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Almost every astronaut experiences space sickness

In the absence of gravity, signals from the vestibulary system and the pressurereceptors are wildly misleading. The effect usually leads to immediate disorientation:many astronauts suddenly feel themselves upside-down, for example, or even havedifficulty in sensing the location of their own arms and legs. This disorientation is themain cause of so-called Space Adaptation Syndrome, which one astronaut wrylydescribed as "a fancy term for throwing up". Half or more of all space travelers sufferfrom space sickness, which brings with it headaches and poor concentration as well asnausea and vomiting. Usually, though, the problems disappear within a few days asastronauts adapt.

The hardest thing to readjust when you come back from space, is when you let goof objects, they fall.

When they return to Earth, astronauts have to re-adapt just as painfully as when theyfirst got into space. There is one re-adaptation that can take somewhat longer toaccomplish, although the consequences are more likely to be amusing than crippling.Several long-duration Russian cosmonauts have reported that months after their flight,they still occasionally let go of a cup or some other object in mid-air - and are quitedisconcerted when it crashes to the floor.

8/8/2019 10 Facts You Didn't Know About Living in Outer Space

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Cosmic radiation makes you see blinding flashes

Gazing out of their space capsules, Apollo astronauts witnessed sights that humans hadnever seen before. They saw the breathtaking view of the Earth's bright blue discagainst the inky black of space. They saw the far side of the Moon. They also sawstrange flashes of light inside their eyeballs! Since then, astronauts aboard Skylab, the

Shuttle, Mir, and the International Space Station have all reported seeing these flashes.What the astronauts were experiencing is space radiation zipping through their eyes likesubatomic bullets. When a "bullet" strikes the retina, it triggers a false signal that thebrain interprets as a flash of light. Needless to say, this is not good for your eyes. Atleast 39 former astronauts have suffered some form of cataracts after flying in.

While in space, you may have to take sponge baths to hygiene yourself

While stations such as Skylab and Mir have been equipped with a shower, most

astronauts take sponge baths using washcloths or moistened towelettes. This reduces

the amount of water consumed. Each astronaut will also have a personal hygiene kit

with a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, razor and other basic toiletries.