Life Aboard The International Space Station

November 5, 2014 in Daily Bulletin

The appropriately named Mariella Moon spoke with an astronaut to find out what life on the International Space Station (ISS) is like. Some of the more interesting highlights include:

  • The ISS orbits the earth every 90 minutes which means that those onboard go through 16 sunsets and rises a day.
  • Now that America has retired its space shuttle program, astronauts hitch rides on the Russian Soyuz craft to get to the Space Station. It costs $71 million per person.
  • A condition to get on the Soyuz is the ability to speak Russian.
  • In 2011 the ISS got internet although it was incredibly slow at first. These days astronauts can browse the web at speeds of 300 Mbps.
  • However crew members report that the best form of entertainment is simply to look out the window at the planet below. (They’ve clearly never been exposed to Centives).
  • Astronauts are allowed to sleep 8.5 hours a day every 24 hours. Most wake up after six though since the body is less tired in microgravity.

The full article includes many more details including a sample daily schedule, experiments that are done, and how triathlons are done in space. Read it here.

Source: Engadget