I wonder if anybody in the ISS ever became so overwhelmed with claustrophobia that they had a panic attack and freak out. I’m sure there are psychological tests to evaluate if somebody has a propensity for such things before actually going up, but damn if I didn’t start feeling a little sick just watching for 30 minutes. Hopefully NASA provides ample Xanax as a contingency.
These are the videos i love to look at. Not a brushed and staged “photo-up” but raw life as it is. They all look dead tired and yet are able to hold themselves under control and put up with the circus. IMO, 99% of their training must be to maintain self-control under any and all circumstances, quick thinking and working through any problems that might arise with an alert mind.
Suni actually ran the Boston marathon from space and I think she did a triathlon when she was there last time, she rowed instead of swimming. When they named the treadmill after Colbert she got to go on the show since she’d already gotten so much press for running in space. They exercise a ton!
That’s why NASA landings were pretty private- the astronauts can’t walk after being on the space station but it’s kinda freaky to see even though you know they’re okay, just the affects of being in space. When she came back in the Soyuz though the press is all up in your face and they put you in like a la z boy chair so people don’t see you on a stretcher.
They purposely make the modules fairly small because, as I recall, the original skylab had a module so large it was possible to get ‘stuck’ in the middle and have no way to grab a side or change your rotation to get to an edge.
Each sleeping pod has independent air flow systems because CO2 will pool around your heard in zero gravity as you sleep and can asphyxiate you - so they need constant slow new air moving around them at all time. That is such a crazy thing to think of as a safety measure.
I’d love to go up and hang out in the ISS for a couple of weeks, but the thought just reminds me of the simpsons when homer goes into space. I imagine they have a ton of work to do while they’re there, and most of that work probably involves things that are way over my head. Not to mention, I picture the culture as overlapping with military culture in terms of discipline and etiquette.
