FUN FACTS ABOUT LIVING IN SPACE

These are just a few of the fun facts that visitors will explore in SPACE: An Out-of-Gravity
Experience opening June 24

The International Space Station (ISS) is an artificial satellite that is suitable for
supporting human life. It is a collaborative project among space agencies from the
United States, Russia, Canada, Japan, and Europe. It serves as a microgravity and space
research laboratory in low Earth orbit.

Novemebr 20, 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the International Space
Station.

With its massive solar array, the International Space Station is as big as a football field—
end zones included. But on the inside, it’s about the size of a five-bedroom house.

The International Space Station maintains an orbit between 205-270 miles above Earth’s
surface and coasts forward at 17,500 miles per hour. It orbits Earth approximately 15.53
times per day.

Without Earth’s blanket-like atmosphere to moderate them, temperatures on opposite

sides of a spacecraft can vary by 500 degrees.

Since the ISS orbits Earth more than 15 times per day, the astronauts on board can’t rely
on normal sunrises and sunsets to help set their schedules. On top of that, heavy
workloads, excitement, and motion sickness can also make it difficult for astronauts to
get a full night’s sleep.

The food on board the ISS is carefully engineered to be compact, healthy and tasty.
The weightlessness of space makes cooking impossible (imagine trying to chop a floating
carrot!), so the meals provided to the ISS crew are prepared and ready to be heated up.
 They also often contain sticky sauces to help hold the food together and prevent crumbs,
which can float into crew members’ eyes, noses, and sensitive equipment!

On board the ISS, astronauts pee into a funnel. Suction pulls the urine into a collecting
system, and it is recycled into drinking water. When they go out on space walks, which
can last for several hours, they wear “maximum absorption garments,” otherwise known
as diapers.

On Earth, we get exercise just by moving the weight of our bodies. Astronauts in space
are weightless. They need to exercise for two hours every day to keep their bodies
healthy.

The human spine stretches in weightlessness. That means that astronauts can come
home from a stint living in space a few inches taller, and with serious back pain. Scientists
are developing a “skin suit” that could potentially help with this hazard of space living. It
mimics gravity by pulling the shoulders towards the feet, compressing the spine and
keeping muscles and bones strong.

Press contact: Carrie-anne Nash, 617-589-0250, cnash@mos.org