8 everyday activities in Zero G
A guide to daily life aboard the ISS
Zero gravity has a big impact on your daily routine aboard the Internatinal Space Station. Here’s how to…
Keep Clean
There is no shower or sink on the ISS, so to keep clean you’ll need to use a special wet cloth, in addition to soaps that work without water. By patting down parts of your body you can give yourself a wash.
Move around
Keeping yourself orientated on the space station is difficult, as you’re constantly moving and drifting around. Make use of handrails and footholds to keep yourself in position when trying to work.
Sleep
On the ISS you won’t have a bedroom like on Earth, but instead you get a telephone booth-sized space where you’ll sleep upright inside a sleeping bag. Of course there is no actual ‘upright’ when in space.
Eat
To eat your specially prepared food on the ISS you’ll need to make sure your plates and cutlery are securely fastened to the table with the provided straps, so your meal doesn’t float off before you dig in.
Get Dressed
There is no washing machine on the ISS, so you’ll have to make do with the clothes you’ve got. Fortunately they’ll stay quite fresh in the clean environment of the ISS, but you’ll be reusing items during your stay.
Exercise
Keeping fit is vital on the ISS. In a near-weightless environment the astronauts lose both bone and muscle mass. For over two hours daily you must use a variety of exercise equipment to keep in shape.
Take out the garbage
There are four bins on the ISS, three for dry rubbish and one for wet rubbish. These are where you’ll need to dispose all of your produced waste until it can eventually be taken off the ISS by a spacecraft.
Relax
After you’ve finished all your work for the day you’ll be afforded some free time. What you do is up to you, but popular pastimes include watching a DVD, taking photos out of the Cupola module or emailing home.
Check out our full feature ‘Surviving Space’ in issue 23 of All About Space magazine, on sale now.