Living in Space
By Sarah Evans
Living in The International Space Station
Living in Space isn't easy at all. From the moment waking up, standing up. To going to the toliet down a nozzel. Breakfast isn't any easier too, the meals are packed in small bags, so are the drinks, Normally the food isnt too bad but some of the dried up food is flavourless and bitter from the long time i has been up here. I take a shower in a big cylinder that is enclosed by a plastic sleeve to prevent the water from floating away. The dirty clothes just get thrown in a plastic bag. The rubbish from breakfast just gets put in a trash compactor under the shuttle floor. The only easy thing after waking up to do is brushing my teeth, the only two options is to spit into a paper towel or swallow the toothpaste. During the day life isnt that hard, i get to look down at the Earth and guess what country we are above. Health and exercise is really important living if youre living in space for a long time. Your body loses muscle strength, i use a bike. I lock my feet into the bike so i stay down. The bike isnt fully attached to the space craft because it can change the balance. Floating in space isnt at all difficult, its easy once you learn how to control yourself. Doing maintainance on the Space craft is scary but exciting at the same time. I was up in Space for 7 Months, during then i had to fix a solar panel, it took me around an hour to get it working again. Not all was simple to fix i did chance some problems on the way.
Fixing The Solar Panel
Being out the space station, for a long time to fix a solar panel isnt all that fun. As i was fixing the solar panel something did go wrong. The solar panel was torn, as a result many things went wrong. We werent getting power from two of the eight panels, soon a third panel stopped producing power. power is vital to keep life support systems functioning. I had to go out to fix a bolt that was stuck. Many of the tools that we had didnt help with this kind of problem. The space suit weighs about 485 pounds. It does weigh anything up in space though. When i went out into space to fix the bolt i put on the suit, check if there are any problem. The EVA bounds me to the space craft so i dont Drift away, this is very important because it also supplies oxygen to me. The bolt was difficult to fix as the tools were not helping much. It took me over an hour to fix the unstuck bolt to get all three solar panels working again. I was pulled back into the space craft to safety. All i was thinking was i couldnt wait to sleep.
End of a Space Day
After a long day out in Space, sleeping is important to rest the body from the busy activity. The meals arent any better from the meals from the morning. Mostly dried food is eaten at night. Usually we sleep in sleeping bags we can also sleep in the commander's seat, the pilot's seat or in bunk beds.Space motion sickness can disrupt an astronaut's sleep pattern. It isnt the best but soon it doesnt become as bad. We still do all the normal hygiene from what we do back in Earth. Brushing teeth, Brushing hair, washing face, having a shower if needed and most importantly going to the toilet. After awhile in space these things become like everyday things to do. Being locked into bed standing up or upside down is just a normal day routine.