Bald Eagle
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- Sep 26, 2012
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Has anybody really given deep thought to the series of crews who are sent constantly to the International Space Station - ISS - for a duty spell of 6 months ? Probably not. The glossy image of unique adventure and excitement overshadows the prospect of being shut up in a metal capsule for 189 days with no outside help, dominates the public mind.
Every single day is the same as the next for 6 solid months. it is essentially a scientifically decorated tiny living room, kitchen and toilet. Every second being weightless and eating a boring assortment of vacuum packed food with some difficulty, where every spec of debris floats around the cabin and poses a failure hazard. They cannot allow bits and pieces however small to float around indiscriminately.The usual daily tasks of hygiene, washing, personal toiletries and housekeeping are not exactly simple or private.
No Doctors, Surgeons or other medical aid if one is taken ill, no repair man available if things go wrong, no walkies and no shopping expeditions. In fact no nothing. The view outside never changes, it is the same every single day and night.
This entire period is a monumental challenge to personal sanity and a number of these astronauts have been in space for a year or more.
To me, it is a massive threat to mental stability and a rather optimistic challenge to maintaining good health over the entire mission period. The threat of sudden death from a variety of causes is a constant factor and of course the possibility of never returning to Earth and being marooned in space for all eternity, is a very real prospect. The only taxi service to and from the ISS is currently an exclusive facility provided only by the Russians. America opted out with their discontinuation of the Space Shuttle.
It matters little how much these people are trained, when in space training is simply a vital survival skill, that is all. The rest is back to GOOD LUCK.
Comments please - not about my post, but about the orbital situation of sheer endurance these astronauts have to sustain, constantly for periods of 6 months or more.
Every single day is the same as the next for 6 solid months. it is essentially a scientifically decorated tiny living room, kitchen and toilet. Every second being weightless and eating a boring assortment of vacuum packed food with some difficulty, where every spec of debris floats around the cabin and poses a failure hazard. They cannot allow bits and pieces however small to float around indiscriminately.The usual daily tasks of hygiene, washing, personal toiletries and housekeeping are not exactly simple or private.
No Doctors, Surgeons or other medical aid if one is taken ill, no repair man available if things go wrong, no walkies and no shopping expeditions. In fact no nothing. The view outside never changes, it is the same every single day and night.
This entire period is a monumental challenge to personal sanity and a number of these astronauts have been in space for a year or more.
To me, it is a massive threat to mental stability and a rather optimistic challenge to maintaining good health over the entire mission period. The threat of sudden death from a variety of causes is a constant factor and of course the possibility of never returning to Earth and being marooned in space for all eternity, is a very real prospect. The only taxi service to and from the ISS is currently an exclusive facility provided only by the Russians. America opted out with their discontinuation of the Space Shuttle.
It matters little how much these people are trained, when in space training is simply a vital survival skill, that is all. The rest is back to GOOD LUCK.
Comments please - not about my post, but about the orbital situation of sheer endurance these astronauts have to sustain, constantly for periods of 6 months or more.