Life on the ISS

The International Space Station has made it possible for astronauts to spend months in space. They learn to survive in an environment most unlike their home planet and have interesting details to share about their experiences. Here is what some astronauts have shared about their stay on the ISS.

The smell of space is difficult to discern as human noses can not detect anything in outer space. However astronauts on the ISS have reported a metallic fume sort of similar to the kind you get when welding on their spacesuits once the airlock has been re-pressurized. There has also been the smell of rotten eggs or bitter almonds reported on the Rosetta spacecraft.

Experiencing a “Cosmic Fairy” is a common occurrence. This term refers to little flashes of light that the astronauts see when they close their eyes. One astronaut likens it to seeing a shooting star streaking across the sky, only with your eyelids closed. The Cosmic Fairies are caused by the interaction of the retina with cosmic rays.

The biggest question to settle on the ISS is which way is up? Directions don’t mean much in space when microgravity allows you to take any position. However in a bid to reduce the feeling of total disorientation the astronauts use the plane of lights on the ISS as the ceiling, just like one would expect the lights to be in a home on Earth. It would make an interesting science project to catelogue all the different kinds of foods that astronauts manage to eat in space.