Daily Life

Food for the astronauts is brought up from Earth by visiting spacecraft. Most of the food is processed and packaged in pouches or cans, and all the astro­nauts have to do is heat it in a small food warmer or oven. Some food is dehydrated, and the crew adds water to it before eating. Small amounts of fresh food, such as fruit and vegetables, are delivered by spacecraft during their rou­tine trips. Almost all food is stored at room temperature. Although there is a small refrigerator, saving electrical power is a priority, so refrigeration is a luxury in space.

ISS crew members wear casual clothes—often a shirt and shorts or pants. They select their clothing before launch, and often the clothes are sent up to the space station before they arrive there. Astronauts sometimes wear cover­alls for work. There is no washing

О The crew of ISS Expedition Three included two Russians and an American who spent 128 days in 2001 manning the space station.

machine, and so space station crews do not change their clothes very often. Astronauts make their work clothes last, on average, ten days between changes. Underwear and socks are changed every other day. Discarded, dirty clothing is put in a disposal bag and shipped out on the next visit­ing Progress spacecraft. When the unmanned Progress burns up as it reenters Earth’s atmosphere, the dirty cloth­ing, along with the other space station garbage, burns up with it.

When they are off duty,

ISS crew can relax and talk to family and friends on Earth, listen to music, watch movies, play games, read, and work on keeping fit. The human body tends to weaken during long space flights in weight­less conditions, so exercise is a very important part of the astronauts’ routine.

Each crew member is provided with a pair of running shoes to wear when exercising on the treadmill, and another pair of shoes to wear when working out on the exercise bike.

SPACE GOLF

Most of the work done on the space sta­tion is serious science, but in November 2006 two astronauts—Mikhail Tyurin and Mike Lopez-Alegria—finished off a 5/2 hour spacewalk with a golf shot. Wearing Russian Orion spacesuits, the astronauts fixed a tee on a ladder out­side the space station. While Lopez – Alegria held his partner’s feet, the Russian played a one-handed golf shot. This stunt was paid for by a Canadian company in association with the Russian space agency. The ultra-lightweight golf ball (less than 100th the weight of a reg­ular golf ball) was expected to stay in orbit for only a few days.