Questions tagged [astronaut-lifestyle]
Questions regarding how astronauts live in space, including day to day activities, chores, etc.
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Did any astronauts smoke within a spacecraft while in space?
A recent question yielded the image below that appears to show Buzz Aldrin smoking a pipe in space. Is there any confirmation that the contents of the pipe were ignited or was he just posing with it ...
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Is there an archive of photos shot by astronauts on the ISS?
Many astronauts on the ISS take photos which get published. Is there a single archive that contains all of these? I've done several searches, but I only come across small collections e.g. on the ...
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Do ISS crew have the opportunity to take daily naps if they'd like to?
Could "days" on the space Station be made shorter to accomodate sleep patterns? raises an interesting point. I've often heard that for some astronauts they never really were able to sleep as ...
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Do astronauts use their toes to grip with in zero gravity?
Feet and toes are not usually as dexterous as hands and fingers but they can grip and hold things. With training and practice they can be like third and fourth hands. Are there any astronauts who make ...
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What is the most heated exoatmospheric conflict to-date?
This tweet by ISS Archaeology (quote-tweeting Norishige Kanai) got me wondering: with all the accumulated time humans have spent in space, surely there have been disagreements, frustration, and ...
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What are the prelaunch procedures that astronauts follow before the launch?
What procedures do the astronauts follow, like the suit-up procedures and communication checks that happen before the launch. And how will the astronaut's family meet the astronauts prior to the ...
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Could Apollo astronauts stand up if they fell on the moon?
I was watching old Apollo footage and noted how astronauts on the moon had a very particular gait most likely due to the poor flexibility of the EVA suits, low gravity, and need for safety.
I was ...
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How many printed novels have been in space to date?
I am talking about actual novels brought for recreational purposes. As in manuals don't count. Also, I would like to know who and on what mission these were brought.
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Is the vestibular system ever useful in spaceflight?
The Vintage Space video Eleven Deaf Men Helped NASA Leave Earth describes a number of different NASA experiments done on human subjects who had damaged vestibular systems due to childhood illness.
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Have mechanical wrist watches been successfully used in space?
Has a mechanical wrist watch been successfully used in spaceflight?
Have there been any problems using them that are related to the many unusual aspects of the spaceflight environment, perhaps ...
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Did Apollo leave poop on the moon?
If you google the question, you will find an abundance of sources discussing the alleged fact that the Apollo missions left bags of fecal matter on the moon. A conversation on reddit got me looking ...
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Did any astronaut take a Bible into space?
I am wondering if any astronauts took a copy of the Holy Bible into space. I know the crew of Apollo 8 read part of Genesis 1 in space, but I am wondering if anyone took a full Holy Bible into space.
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Was there really a shuttle toilet training device with a "boresight camera"?
Was there really a shuttle toilet training device with a camera looking up at the user's fundament? This seems a bit undignified to say the least.
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How often has the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy been in space?
I came across an answer saying that a copy of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was sent to space in Elon Musks roadster (in 2018).
Has the book been in space before that (maybe taken to the ISS by ...
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Were any of the Apollo astronauts smokers and did that cause any problems?
Onboard the Apollo capsule, the astronauts probably weren’t allowed to smoke because of the risk. Apollo 1 blew up because of a small spark in a pure oxygen environment. Even though NASA changed the ...
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What happens if you jump on a "spin ship"?
If you're on a spin ship, or rotating wheel space station, and you jump, then you're no longer being accelerated by the rotation. What would happen?
First, I'll establish some terms to make discussing ...
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Are there any atheist or agnostic American astronauts, past or present?
Are there any atheist or agnostic American astronauts, past or present?
If no was this policy? (If no how did that happen and is there a policy going forward?)
Yes these are three questions but they ...
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How was the deep blue colour of these astronaut "jump suits" selected?
I've seen most of the time Astronauts and/or Cosmonauts wearing blue coloured clothes either on Earth or in the ISS. Is there any specific reason for the choice of this colour? I think it's to show ...
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Is it possible to get married in space?
Is it possible to have a legal wedding in space?
For example, any of the following could answer the question:
Does any national law system explicitly define a specific process for validly performing ...
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Washing clothes in space: are there any technical challenges?
Currently, the ISS is resupplied with fresh clothes from the Earth. I remember reading a report on NTRS stating that the requirements for fresh clothes proved to be much higher than expected.
Thus, ...
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Astronauts make a lot of CH₄ and some H₂ as well; do space capsules and space stations have systems to remove these?
While not as much as ruminants, humans emit methane, CH4, natural gas, etc. regularly. While it is less known, we can also emit hydrogen as H2.
What are the sources of molecular hydrogen in human ...
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Do astronauts play reduced gravity sports when folks on Earth aren't watching? Ever quasi-regularly? If so, what sports?
Astronauts on space stations routinely do things for their own entertainment and also things for public outreach/entertainment of folks on Earth.
Videos below are examples.
But I'm curious about any ...
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Are all modern astronauts at least passable phlebotomists?
phlebotomists are (nearly always) highly skilled people who safely and relatively painlessly poke our veins with big needles, take blood samples, then ask us to "press here". The process is ...
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What have astronauts used rolls of Kapton tape for?
An image (also below) in an answer to the question "How often is duct tape used during crewed space missions?" shows a roll of the gray stuff next to a roll of Kapton tape, aboard the ...
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Did astronaut Scott Kelly eat cake in space?
From what I understand and remember the first cookies baked in space were returned to Earth for testing and I think part of the reason that no cookies baked on the ISS's oven could be eaten is that ...
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World's most expensive space cookie? (What am I looking at, object identification, rivets and all)
On the NPR page Our Favorite Things, Short Wave-style there is an image whose caption reads
Earlier this month, crew aboard the International Space Station received a a novel item in their cargo re-...
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Is loss of flexibility a concern with crew on the ISS?
Videos of people on the ISS make it clear how little they need to bend or stretch, and how their joints stay in their neutral position most of the time as they float around - elbows, knees and hips ...
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What animals would be best suited as pets or comfort animals for extended periods of spaceflight in microgravity?
Various scenarios that put more or less every folks in space for extended periods of time in microgravity in the future have been proposed, mostly based on space tourism but there could be ...
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Indoor games played by Astronauts in Manned spacecrafts [closed]
What are the possible indoor games can be played by Astronauts on Spacecrafts as part of recreation?
Playing cards, Chess, Table tennis, Scrabble etc.
Since no gravity in space, there could be limited ...
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What electronic game was first to be played in space?
Analogously to What card or board game was first played in space? I'd like to ask what electronic game was first to be played in space.
It could be a handheld dedicated game or something running on a ...
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What card or board game was first played in space?
Was it chess, blackjack or some other game that was first played in space?
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Who was the first person to shave in space?
A quick internet search shows that Apollo 11 astronauts shaved, but there were some Apollo missions earlier than that were also of similar week-like duration and the Soviet Union had astronauts in ...
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First space phlebotomy? When was the first human veinous blood sample taken in space?
phlebotomists are (nearly always) highly skilled people who safely and relatively painlessly poke our veins with big needles, take blood samples, then ask us to "press here". The process is ...
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How far are space-walking helmet faceplates from the eyes? How far will I have to hold my "space binoculars" from my eyes during a space walk?
I'm on a space walk and comet Kohoutek is passing by and I've brought my specially designed space binoculars with me to look at it.
I left my Nikon Monarch 8x42 binoculars inside because with an eye ...
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Cats and dogs in microgravity; how much information is there on their locomotive ability or adaptability in space? Is there anything at all?
Cats and dogs are both known to be very popular pets for humans around the world and have been bred for thousands of years for this purpose.
Destin Sandlin's Slow Motion Flipping Cat Physics | Smarter ...
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Is the new RGB solid state LED lighting on the ISS ever used to produce colors other than white?
This answer to Why are these astronauts green? explains the new (now about 2 years old) solid state (LED) lighting modules being added to ISS interior lighting, replacing the fluorescent lights (see ...
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Why did tests in space of refrigerators of the type we use at home fail? How many were tried?
Phys.org's To give astronauts better food, engineers test a fridge prototype in microgravity says:
Astronauts have been going to space since 1961, but they still don't have a refrigerator to use for ...
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Are there really "Dead End" signs on the outside of the International Space Station?
This question currently links to the NASA video Expedition 63 Inflight interview with Yahoo Finance KPRC TV - July 24, 2020 at 07:46 where a few seconds later ...
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What are the average masses of male and female astronauts respectively?
Considering that each pound/kilogram costs a vast amount of fuel to put into orbit/get to the moon or Mars, it might make sense to use jockey-sized people or even midgets as astronauts. They might be ...
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How do modern "space windows" protect from dangerous UV? Is it simply the type of glass, or are there coatings or filters also?
Answer(s) to Did Valentin Lebedev or any another Salut cosmonaut actually get suntanned for fun and/or for science? explain that at least a few Salut cosmonauts "experimented" with getting ...
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Did Valentin Lebedev or any another Salut cosmonaut actually get suntanned for fun and/or for science?
A comment below Did Salyuts have windows? links to Soviet Space Stations as Analogs, Second Edition (Doc. ID 19870012563, Contractor Report) which contains:
...the various aspects of the Soviet ...
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Has an astronaut ever gone into a docked capsule to take a photo out one of its windows?
A discussion below this answer to Did anybody on the ISS photograph this partial eclipse? How long did it last? How did they safely photograph it? has me wondering if astronauts can ever see "up&...
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Did anybody on the ISS photograph this partial eclipse? How long did it last? How did they safely photograph it?
Thanks to @gerrit's comment I have "irrefutable photographic circumstantial evidence" that the ISS (probably) passed through the penumbra of a partial solar eclipse. I know this is true ...
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Without renewable resources, how do you wipe in space?
I have looked around a bit, Wikipedia has an article on space toilets and one on toilet paper, but the two don't seem to be used together. According to one reference, annual consumption of toilet ...
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Do astronauts on ISS notice Earth's seasons?
Has anyone stationed on the ISS for some months reported noticing the changing seasons on Earth in any way like people on the surface do, subconsciously without needing to look up numbers for anything?...
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How did Skylab's "space shower" work?
Skylab had a shower to help the astronauts bathe.
How did the astronauts get wet? (Fixed nozzle, movable showerhead, etc.; volume of water)
How did they get themselves dry?
How did they contain and ...
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Who transliterates non-Russian names into Russian for space-suit name tags?
Many, many astronauts have gone on to be wonderful orators, educators, advocates for science, education and positive thinking, Major Tom Colonel (ret) and (fmr) ISS Commander Chris Hadfield is just ...
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How are astronaut nametags printed when their family name is first?
It is traditional in English and Russian to print a person's given name before their family name. However, there are some languages where that order is reversed.
When flying on an American or Russian ...
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How do US citizens vote in space?
Astronaut Kate Rubins tweeted that she has voted while being on the ISS:
How does that work? Did she have some paperwork with her that she can send down to earth with a spacecraft soon? The ...
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Can they still make espresso on the ISS? If so, with what?
This comment suggests that the origional ISSpresso machine may no longer be running on the ISS.
Is that so? If so, can they still make espresso on the ISS? If both are so, with what do they make it?