Astronauts Adapt to Life on Board the Space Station

Mary Helen Berg, for USA TODAY NASA Special Edition 3:45 p.m. EDT October 2, 2015

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren corrals the supply of fresh fruit that arrived August 25, 2015 on the Kounotori 5 H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-5.) Visiting cargo ships often carry a small cache of fresh food for crew members aboard the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA(Photo: NASA)

Astronauts aboard the international Space Station (ISS) live a life experienced by only 218 people in the world. Though part of their daily routine is familiar to all of us, even mundane tasks become extraordinary when your home is a high-tech microgravity lab hurtling through space at 5 miles per second, 250 miles above your home planet.

Orbiting Outhouse

For instance, imagine trying to do your business in zero gravity and floating away from the throne. Or worse.

You do occasionally get what we call a brown trout, where the fish get away and you have to corral them with a wet wipe and put them back where they need to go, revealed Barry Butch Wilmore, who served as ISS commander from November 2014 to March 2015.

The ISS toilet is much like a standard commode with a lid and seat, but since theres no gravity, crewmembers use various restraints and handles to keep themselves in the correct position.

Astronauts use a waste collection system, which includes a hose device to vacuum urine away from the body and keep solid waste in place as it is deposited into an individual plastic bag in the toilet can. Liquid waste is filtered, purified and recycled for use as drinking water.

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Scott Kelly take their first bites of red romaine lettuce that was grown on the International Space Station.(Photo: NASA)

Soups On

Sit-down dinners are for earthlings.

Meals on the ISS look more like space take-out, and dining is designed so feasts dont float away. Astronauts gather for meals but usually hover near each other and dip long-handled spoons into individually portioned pouches of pre-made food, Wilmore said.

Cooking consists of heating food packets in a briefcase-like apparatus fitted with a hot plate and springs to hold the package in place. The station also stocks dehydrated meals that are lighter to ship and stay preserved longer than military-style Meals Ready to Eat (MREs). Salt and pepper in liquid form help spice things up.

You can eat anything with the right condiments, said Wilmore, a fan of ISS meatloaf and chicken with peanut sauce.

An astronauts diet must prevent weight loss, which can damage bones and muscles and cause cardiovascular stress and other health complications, explained Scott Smith, lead scientist in the Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Crewmembers also take vitamin D supplements to offset months without sunlight and drink plenty of water to compensate for the stations dry environment, Smith said.

Since 2009, the ISS has processed condensation from the stations air and recycled astronauts urine to provide drinking water.

It is the best water I have ever tasted, Wilmore claimed. Its fantastic.

International Space Station Expedition 42 Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore shows off a ratchet made with a 3-D printer aboard the vessel.(Photo: NASA)

Weightless Workout

Astronauts on the ISS barely break a sweat performing triple flips mid-air, but the weightless environment requires strenuous daily workouts to stay strong.

Without gravity to provide resistance, astronauts risk losing endurance, strength, power, coordination, balance and agility. Weakness and bone loss are equivalent to being in bed for six months, said Mark Guilliams, a NASA strength, conditioning and rehabilitation specialist.

Astronauts lose 1 percent to 2 percent of their bone mass during flight and can lose more than 10 percent of muscle strength during a six-month space station expedition.

To counteract these side effects, crewmembers follow strength training and cardiovascular protocols two hours a day, six days a week.

Their gym consists of three machines scattered amid the stations scientific experiments: a treadmill fitted with a harness and bungee cords to keep the user in place; a stationary bicycle that can be ridden without a seat or handlebars; and a type of weight resistance machine called the aRED, or advanced Resistive Exercise Device.

Astronaut Sunita Williams shook up her workout by running the Boston Marathon on the ISS treadmill in 2007 (unofficial time: 4:24) and completing the first space triathlon in 2012 (unofficial time: 1:48:33), using all three exercise devices to simulate the race.

Goodnight Moon

Sweet dreams can be elusive, especially when your head floats above your pillow and the sun rises every 45 minutes.

Astronauts often suffer insomnia as they adjust to strange light cycles, body fluid shifts and zero gravity, said Dr. Smith Johnston, who leads NASAs fatigue management program at the Johnson Space Center.

ISS astronauts sleep in small pods about the size of a phone booth that contain a sleeping bag and personal belongings. At bedtime, they crawl into their bag and float with their hands and head bobbing.

Sleep deprivation is a serious health concern. ISS astronauts average only about six hours of sleep even fewer during busy periods, such as when the shuttle docks, Johnston said.

Next year, NASA plans to replace the stations fluorescent lights with LEDs programmed to produce light that will help the astronauts bodies differentiate day from night.

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