Astronaut's Perspective on Space Flight: Not a career field for 'just anybody'... WHY...?

[WKTaylor]

This Is How To Succeed Under Pressure: 4 Secrets From Astronauts

https://bakadesuyo.com/2023/08/astronauts/

On the International Space Station nothing is comfortable and everything is a challenge. There’s no running water and even less privacy. Your world is covered in Velcro. And it’s loud. Fans whir and hum constantly, interrupted by the occasional micrometerorite slamming into the Station’s armor.

Weightlessness does a number on your sinuses causing congestion, so food always tastes bland like when you have a head cold. There’s an emphasis on oatmeal, pudding and cooked spinach because food that clumps is more practical in a place where your dinner might float away from your mouth.
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Regards, Wil Taylor
o Trust - But Verify!
o For those who believe, no proof is required; for those who cannot believe, no proof is possible. [variation, Stuart Chase]
o Unfortunately, in science what You 'believe' is irrelevant. ["Orion", HBA forum]
o Only fools and charlatans know everything and understand everything." -Anton Chekhov

 

[Sparweb]

Chris Jones, Too Far from Home captured some of the drudgery of life on ISS by writing about the astronauts who were "marooned" after Columbia crashed.
They were unprepared for their extra-long stay.

But it was worse on MIR:
Bryan Borroughs, Crisis Aboard MIR

 

[btrueblood]

George "Pinky" Nelson gave a brief talk , about a year post-Challenger, for our Aero Design Course at U of Wash. He mentioned that lots of stuff floated around on Shuttle missions. He recalled finding a peanut floating by, and snagging it, ate it. Later realized that the Space Toilet was not operating correctly, and allowed larger particulate to "re-enter" the station. Will stop there, let your imagination fill in the details...

 

[WKTaylor]

Perhaps it is a good thing to learn the hard lessons of space and spacecraft and astronauts... relatively 'close to home'... instead of during the voyage to/around/from Mars.

Another reason the SpaceX Starship concept has me 'twichy'.

PS: Thanks for the book references!

Regards, Wil Taylor
o Trust - But Verify!
o For those who believe, no proof is required; for those who cannot believe, no proof is possible. [variation, Stuart Chase]
o Unfortunately, in science what You 'believe' is irrelevant. ["Orion", HBA forum]
o Only fools and charlatans know everything and understand everything." -Anton Chekhov