subject: How Do Space Voyagers Live In Microgravity Settings? [print this page] A lot of of us aspire to be astronauts for the reason that they are really the national heroes. However, there are a lot people who think that astronauts are overrated people who are overpaid for just floating around in space. Roaming or flowing around in zer gravity may sound like a fun thing to do, but having fun is not that easy when you are in a microgravity environment. Even the simplest thing on the surface can be the most tiresome thing in space. Imagine in an environment where the tiniest drop of sweat can be seen floating in front of your eyes. Would it be that simple to just enter the bathroom and do the same thing you would on earth? That is why the toilets in spaceships are different than we have here on the surface. While we can decorate and improve our restrooms with any item such as small bathroom storage to medicine cabinet without mirror, astronauts who travel in space do not have a simple toilet seat or a urinal.
In the same manner, anything that needs gravity is pretty hard and different in space. People are always curious to inquire about how their astronauts manage to do their simple daily tasks like eating, drinking and then, well, emptying it all out.
The basic thing to understand is that space is not a zero gravity environment. In fact, there is a pull in space, but it is extremely less than there is on the surface. This is why it is called microgravity. As far as consuming a meal is concerned, gravitational pull does little to contribute in digesting food. It is in actual the muscles of our food pipe that push food down to the tummy. The single thing that gravity might help in is in pacing the whole process up. Because, without gravitational force, food takes longer to process, and hence, the body absorbs more fat and calories.
Same is the case with drinking. Therefore, space heroes can now take regular meal and water in space. The only difference is of packaging and utensils that are uniquely designed to keep food inside even after opening. Plus, they generally get to consume wet sticky food such as porridge or pudding, so that it can more stay stuck to the spoon and bowl. Moreover, crumbs of dry food can contaminate the surroundings.
Taking care of personal hygiene is the most difficult task in micro gravity. But, since spacecrafts require more than one person, they have to ensure cleanliness it anyway. For taking a bath, astronauts use a damp sponge instead of a shower. Specially made shampoos and soaps don't need to be rinsed off. Toilets have changed a lot with time. Initially, they only had 14 day storage capacity. Today it has infinite limit. The astronauts have to strap themselves to the toilet seat which makes use of air flow instead of water which works like a vacuum hose that pulls the solid waste into a bag. The newer toilet changes the bag after each use and the dirty bag is thrown into a waste cylinder. fortunately, this makes the newer toilets odor free as well.
