Spaced out!

Houston, TX – Today I finally learned how astronauts go to the bathroom in space. It’s a pretty important technique in a gravity-free environment! We also found out some other interesting details about living in outer space as we toured NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

When we first arrived, the parking lot was almost empty, because it was 20 minutes before opening time.  Soon after, we were boarding the first tour of the grounds by tram.  Our first stop was Mission Control, the very room where the world first heard “one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind” on the day of the first lunar landing.

Our guide, Neil (“no, not that Neil!” he joked) explained that the room-sized computer that processed all the data during the 1969 moon landing only had 5 megabytes of memory – enough to store only 10 of today’s digital photographs!  Messages to other offices were handwritten on pieces of paper that were rolled up into a cylinder and sent through a pneumatic tube.  It was staggering to realize how rudimentary the technology was and what huge risks the astronauts took to accomplish such a historic mission.

We saw the storage building that houses 800 pounds of lunar rocks, and stopped to look at the Saturn V rocket, with its huge cone-shaped thrusters, three stages, and manned capsule.

One of the most exciting stops was the building where scientists build mock-ups for the International Space Station (ISS).  From our catwalk above the working floor, we looked down on NASA staff as they worked with carpentry tools, sewing machines, laptops and a host of complex equipment to design prototypes of space station modules, robots, space suits and other items used in today’s space program.

Even though the space shuttle flew its last mission in 2011, there have been people in outer space continuously since then, traveling in the Soyuz space craft to link up with the ISS for six months at a stretch.  One of the most significant effects of life in outer space on the astronauts, besides muscle atrophy and reduction in heart size, is bone loss – and unlike those other effects, the loss is not reversed upon returning to earth.  This places a limit on the number of times a person can go on a space mission, depending on the individual degree of loss they experience.

Back in the main visitor building, we looked at exhibits, walked through space modules and listened to a presentation on living in outer space.  That’s where we found out that every drop of liquid (including sweat and urine) in the ISS is collected, purified and recycled as drinking water as well as for other uses.  Sometimes it’s better not to know everything!

Amazing photos of Mars wowed us in the presentation about future missions.  Robotic rovers on that planet that were supposed to work for 90 days are still sending data back after ten years!  Work is ongoing to send human beings to Mars by 2030 or so, and Gabe, our presenter, suggested that some young audience members might consider being participants. We did not rush to pick up applications!