Space station: how astronauts live. How do astronauts live on the ISS?

How to live when it is not clear where is up, where is down, and objects- even water – fly around if you don't secure them?

In the absence of gravity, the liquid does not flow, but takes the shape of a ball - so how can you wash yourself with flying drops? At first we used wet wipes. Even now they do not disdain them, since this is the most cheap way keep the body clean. In the 1970s on " Salyute 6" And SkyLab showers appeared, where drops of water were dispersed by vacuum cleaners - a person had to soar in a mask with a breathing tube. But such wasting of water turned out to be impractical - they began to wash by hand. Drops of water stick to the skin and hair due to surface tension, and so, by spreading water in small areas, you can wash and wipe off the moisture with a towel. At the station World“There was even a sauna. Now RKK« Energy» plans to deliver to ISS“sanitary and hygiene block” because the astronauts with napkins are grumbling.

The first astronauts used diapers because it is impossible to wash off waste products in space. Then they came up with the idea of ​​pumping out unnecessary things from a person using a vacuum method - one such vacuum cleaner costs tens of millions of dollars. Here it is very important not to miss the hose, otherwise, let us remind you, in zero gravity everything will fly apart. Depending on the station, the collected urine is sucked into space, where it solidifies into crystals and sparkles beautifully in the sun, or is broken down into oxygen and water. Solid waste is returned to Earth. By the way, The current chill in Russian-American relations has affected the use of ISS toilets: The staffers do not allow ours to relieve themselves in their part of the station and vice versa.

By the way, if you are wondering whether you will fly forward like a rocket if you fart in zero gravity, then yes, you will fly, but by a few millimeters - the thrust is not the same.

Dirty laundry also travels to Earth - they don’t wash it in orbit, they haven’t learned how. NASA even announced a competition for The best way defeat the problem of space socks, because delivering clean socks into orbit costs tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram. However, worn underpants can be useful: astronaut Donald Pettit grew tomatoes in them due to the impossibility of using unpaved soil. And our best minds actually came up with a way to use dirty laundry to produce oxygen for the needs of the ISS - however, the method turned out to be labor-intensive.

Tubes with pates and borscht in the past, since the 1980s freeze-dried food has been delivered into orbit, where hot water added on site. the main problem– crumbling bread: to avoid swallowing scattered crumbs, the product is packaged in one bite size. Well, spreading something on bread is not difficult. They drink by squeezing the liquid directly into the mouth from the bags.

To avoid bumping into surrounding objects in their sleep, they secure themselves to the walls with belts. And this design has been refined over the years: Alexey Leonov, the first to go into outer space, complained that he had to stick his head between the instruments so as not to dangle. And one day he woke up and didn’t recognize own hands, fluttering limply before my eyes. What’s nice is that in the sleeping compartment of the Russian part of the ISS, the Earth is visible through the window, while Americans in a tightly battened cabin are deprived of the opportunity to admire the views of their big homeland before going to bed.

However, not everyone likes to sleep exclusively at night - and the question of sex in orbit excites humanity continuously, and cosmonauts of both sexes somehow sing too unanimously about moral principles. Astronaut Mike Mullane claims that the only privacy on shuttles is in the airlock, from where one step is closer to absolute zero - but the rest would understand who is there and why. They are shy, in general.

Which Russian cosmonauts are in space in 2019 and what work do they do in orbit? Who will fly with the next crew, the schedule of long-term space expeditions to the ISS.

The work of space exploration is one of the most important in Russia, most scientific activity and experiments related to it are the strongest catalyst for other areas of development.

Despite certain difficulties with financing and even accidents recently, work continues, and Russian astronauts continue to fly into orbit, supporting the world recognition of Russia and making their contribution to global development.

Who's in space now?

On December 4, cosmonauts Annie McClain (USA), David St. Jacques (Canada) and Russian Oleg Kononenko flew into space.

They joined the crew Soyuz MS-09, which has been in space since June 8 - to Sergei Prokopyev, Serena Auñon, Alexander Gerst.

The flight went well. After two days of careful rendezvous, the expedition successfully docked with the ISS. Everyone, of course, was pretty worried before the previous accident.

On October 11, Alexey Ovchinin and Tyler Nick Haig were supposed to join Prokopyev, Aunon and Gerst. However, the Soyuz rocket they were flying on crashed, and the astronauts returned to Earth.

On December 20, Sergei Prokopyev, Alexander Gerst and Serena Auñon flew to earth on the Soyuz MS-9 spacecraft.

Thus, since December 20, 2018, the following cosmonauts have been in space as part of the new ISS-58/59 expedition (6 people):

Commander: Oleg Kononenko

Flight engineers:

• David Saint Jacques (Canada) (58/59);
• Annie McClain (USA) (58/59);

Who will fly to the ISS soon?: a little later, Russian Oleg Skripochka and American Christina Hammock should arrive as part of the second part of the expedition in March 2019. The third participant is still unknown.

Photos and biographies of Russians who traveled to space this year

Nowadays, becoming an astronaut is easier than before, but there are still very few lucky ones. There are no more than 10-15 people in orbit per year, 5-6 people from Russia. However, it is noteworthy that space is currently being taken not only former pilots, but also people of other specialties. So, the following Russian cosmonauts performed their work in space this year:

Oleg Kononenko- the most experienced cosmonaut, born in 1964. This is already his fourth flight. He graduated from the Kharkov Aviation Institute and is an engine specialist. In 1996 he began space training.

Born in 1975. A graduate of the Tambov and Orenburg military aviation schools, he also has a diploma in accountancy from the Michurinsky Agrarian University. Former commander of Tu-22 and Tu-160 bombers. First time in space.

– experienced specialist, commander, born in 1970, second time in orbit. Born in Riga, the son of a military engineer. Since childhood, he was fond of aviation, went in for sports and wrestling. Graduated from the University. Bauman, Academy of Civil Service. Since 1998, he worked at RSC Energia, trained crews for flights, and in 2003 he himself became a cosmonaut.

– participant of three space expeditions, born in 1972. In 1994 he graduated from the Higher Aviation School in Kachinsk, in 1998 – from the Military Academy. Zhukovsky, in 2018 - the Academy of Civil Service. He worked as a pilot instructor for the Air Hussars aerobatic team; in the early 2000s he was transferred to the space division.

What’s interesting is that both of the last pilots graduated from the Civil Service Academy under the President of the Russian Federation with a humanities specialty as an additional education. This could be an unspoken requirement to have a third non-technical specialty, or at a given academy they underwent some kind of special training, for example, with the participation of the special services.

What work do astronauts do in orbit?

Included last expedition 56/57 The main task for the astronauts is to install the equipment received with the last cargo delivery. The ISS is constantly developing and growing, so a lot of “repairs” will be carried out in space in the coming months.

A major event was the accident at the end of August, when an air leak was discovered in the hull of the MS-09 ship. The astronauts sealed the hole with epoxy resin.

Russian and American cosmonauts at the International Station are performing work on docking new modules, taking samples from the external panels of the ship, conducting biological and physical experiments. The programs for each flight are drawn up long before the launch, the astronauts are given tasks to increase safety, and new technologies are also tested at altitude.

During expedition 58/59 in 2018-2019, the following list of experiments and scientific directions is provided:

Typically, segments of activity by country on the ISS have their own emphasis. For example, Americans and Europeans are focused on biological and medical experiments, Russians are engaged in energy, and the Japanese are engaged in robotics. However, Russians are also studying biological and chemical fields.

Also for last years a significant contribution was made to world science in the study of the solar system, experiments were conducted on biological corrosion, the peculiarities of the consequences of small inertial forces in conditions of weightlessness.

American astronauts, of course, often achieve greater results due to larger crews and larger budgets. However, the Russians fulfill the most complex work in outer space.

So, to the question of which cosmonauts are in space in 2019 now, we can answer unequivocally that now of the Russians in space only 2 people are Sergei Prokopyev and Oleg Kononenko, the rest are foreigners. It’s hard to say when the next ones will fly, last news are contradictory on this matter.

Once upon a time, all the boys dreamed of becoming astronauts, and the astronauts themselves were something akin to rock stars. Today, things are not as rosy for Russian and international cosmonautics as we would like. The romance of space exploration is gone, and more people look at smartphone screens than at the blue heights. In order to help the cause of space exploration at least a little, we have collected several interesting facts about the ISS, Mir and those who live and work on them.

1. Age is a joy

Throughout the history of space exploration, humanity has created two manned orbital stations designed for long-term stay of people on them. The first such station was the Soviet-Russian Mir station. It existed in the orbit of our planet for 5,511 days. The second station was the International Space Station, which is still in use today. As of April 12, 2017, the ISS had been in orbit for 6,718 days.

2. Extraterrestrial life

People spent 4,594 days at the Mir station. The astronauts lived and worked at the station until June 16, 2000. The first cosmonaut set foot on the ISS on November 2, 2000. To date, the station has been inhabited for 6,007 Earth days. Thus, most of the time someone lives at the station. In total, about 200 people from more than 10 countries have visited the ISS since 2000. During this time, 7 space tourists visited the station. May 2009 was the first month when teams from all space agencies at once were present on the ISS: the USA, Russia, the EU, Canada.

3. Space democracy

If astronauts are in orbit, and in the meantime, any elections are taking place in their countries, for example, presidential ones, crew members from the corresponding country can take part in them without leaving the ISS. Corresponding amendments were adopted into laws different countries back in the 90s of the last century.

4. The first pancake is lumpy

Despite the fact that the Mir station and the ISS are the most famous, humanity has made many more attempts in this area. Thus, the Mir station was developed from Soviet project"Salyut", which operated from 1971 to 1982. The Americans tried to create a Skylab station. It was even visited by three crews, but due to damage to Skylab during launch, the station had to be taken out of service.

5. “Long-livers”

Gennady Ivanovich Padalka is currently the absolute record holder for the total stay in Earth orbit. The Russian cosmonaut, an Air Force colonel, spent 878 days in orbit as of April 6, 2017. Previously, this record belonged to another “long-liver”, Russian and Soviet cosmonaut Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev. It spent a total of 803 days in orbit.

By the way, Krikalev is one of four people in the post-Soviet space who was immediately awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union and the title of Hero Russian Federation. Moreover, at the time of the collapse of the USSR it was in orbit. Having gone to Mir as a “Soviet”, Krikalev returned as a “Russian”.

6. World record holder

Valery Vladimirovich Polyakov can rightfully be considered an “earthling dinosaur.” The thing is that this Russian (and Soviet) cosmonaut holds the world record for the longest flight into space - 437 days and 18 hours from 1994 to 1995. He circled the earth more than 7 thousand times. The cosmonaut lived at the Mir station. Polyakov is a doctor by profession. He has a doctorate in medical sciences, the title of professor and military rank colonel.

7. Orbital equality

American Peggy Annette Whitson is the first female astronaut to become commander of the International space station. She is a scientist who works in the field of biochemistry. To date, Peggy has completed two space flights and spent 377 days in orbit, making her the record holder for the longest flight duration among women. She also holds another record among female astronauts - 53 hours 22 minutes for the longest stay in outer space.

Afterword.

Space exploration is a large, complex and overwhelming task for more than one country alone. In this regard, the ISS is a wonderful testament to what nations can achieve when they cooperate with each other to achieve a common goal.

Continuing the theme, a story about how and when.

When crew members are not busy conducting scientific experiments, they are performing station repair work or preparing for work outside spaceship.

What experiments and repair work are being carried out on the ISS?

Since 2000, the ISS has hosted a wide variety of scientific experiments for various government agencies, private companies, educational institutions. Experiments range from growing some zucchini to observing the behavior of a colony of ants. One of the latest experiments, for example, is 3D printing in zero gravity and testing humanoid robots, which in the future, quite possibly, will help the station crews in their work. When asked which experiment Coleman thought was the most interesting, she replied: “The crew themselves.” Calling herself a “walking, talking osteoporosis experiment,” Coleman noted that a person in space loses their bone mass and density at about 10 times the rate of a 70-year-old person on Earth. Therefore, studying and analyzing blood and urine samples in microgravity "helps to better understand the mechanism of bone mass loss and restoration."

In addition to the tasks of conducting scientific research ISS crew members are responsible for the proper operation of all station systems. After all, if something goes wrong, the lives of all life on board will be in danger. Sometimes you even have to go outside to fix some broken part or simply clear away the space debris that has accumulated near the station, which can definitely cause harm. In this case, the crew members put on their spacesuits and go into outer space. By the way, one of the most memorable spacewalks was the case of American astronaut Sunita Williams, who used an ordinary toothbrush to fix solar system power station.

Since spacewalks are always limited in time, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) decided to attach a two-armed assistant robot, Dextra, to the retractable mobile service system Canadarm2. Multifunctional system is used for different tasks, including additional station assembly and catching unmanned spacecraft heading to the ISS, such as SpaceX's Dragon module, carrying various supplies to the station. The Dextro robot is controlled remotely from Earth. This is where the control comes from. repair work station, so as not to disturb its crew once again. This year, Dextr even repaired the Canadarm2 system itself.

How do the ISS crew keep clean and use the toilet?

Hair, nail bits or water bubbles are not the best best friends expensive station equipment. Add microgravity to this, and if you are negligent, you can expect disaster. This is why crew members are very, very careful when it comes to their own hygiene. Well-known Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield (who became a real media star in 2013) once even said that safety reaches such a level that crew members have to swallow toothpaste after they brush their teeth. Hadfield is widely known for his YouTube videos, where he talks about life at the station and shows how people on it wash their hands (with a special soap), shave (using a special gel), get their hair cut (using a kind of vacuum cleaner), and they cut their nails (and at the same time catch every piece of their own flesh that floats away). In turn, Coleman says that the crew members use a special shampoo, but during her stay at the station she was not able to take a shower, although it can only be called a shower with a stretch. The fact is that to wash themselves, station residents use only a damp sponge, and not a whole set that can be found on Earth.

As for toilets, of course, it is impossible to use ordinary toilets on the ISS, such as we are used to using on Earth. Space toilets use a sanitation system to collect human waste, which is then stored in special bags inside aluminum containers until they are completely full. Each such filled container is then released into the atmosphere, where it burns completely. Tracy Caldwell-Dyson (who flew to the ISS in 2010) told the Huffington Post that although the toilet was not originally designed with women in mind (it was developed by the Russian space agency, which sent only men to the ISS ), she was still able to use it.

As for urine, Hadfield says the urine goes straight into the filtration system, where the output is pure water, which is reused by station residents for drinking as well as rehydrating their food.

Food, Entertainment and Internet



Food on the ISS is usually stored in special vacuum packages, which are very easy to use. The station crew receives a wide variety of diets, ranging from main courses to desserts. Some of these foods are packaged ready-made, some require rehydration before consumption (for example, powdered spinach or ice cream). After eating treats, crew members need to get rid of these open packages to avoid food pieces getting on the expensive equipment. A very interesting detail is that some commanders of expeditions to the ISS completely prohibit the consumption of certain foods on the station, such as gumbo soup (an American dish) or muffins (as well as other crumbly foods), since after their consumption the station must be constantly cleaned of crumbs.

Residents of the station have access to several means for their own entertainment: movies, TV shows, books and music, for example. However, for Garan and many other people who lived on the ISS, nothing compares to the excitement of photographing and admiring our planet from afar. That is why when you search Google for “photos from the ISS” you will find a huge number of all kinds of images. Well, if you consider how many pictures from the ISS can be found on the Internet, then it becomes definitely clear that the residents of the station also have access to the Internet. According to astronaut Clayton Anderson, the Network appeared on the ISS in 2010, but Coleman notes that the Internet was very slow in 2011, when it arrived on the ISS. Station residents communicate with the crew on Earth, as well as with members of their families, using voice or video chat on a channel with a frequency of 2-4 GHz, however, according to her, the Internet at that time was so slow that “it was not worth the time for it.” use during her expedition." Today maximum speed Internet on the ISS (not without the participation of a separate dedicated NASA communications satellite) can reach up to 300 Mbit/s.

How do station residents look after their physical health?

Almost every new ISS crew member experiences so-called “space sickness” during the first days of their stay on the station. Symptoms of this disease are nausea and dizziness. Therefore, each “newbie” is given a vomit bag with an antibacterial cloth, which the astronauts use to clean the remains of vomit from the face and mouth so that it does not spread around. Over time, the bodies of the “newbies” begin to acclimatize and they feel some changes in their physical condition. At the time of these changes, the person’s body becomes a little longer (the spine, due to the lack of gravity, completely straightens), and the person’s face swells a little, due to the fact that the fluid in the body begins to move upward.

Unfortunately, nausea and dizziness are not the only acclimatization factors. People new to the station often experience vision problems, accompanied by flashes and streaks of light in their eyes. Aerospace scientists are still trying to figure out the exact cause of this phenomenon, so they are asking station residents to monitor the condition of their eyes and regularly send new information back to Earth. Some scientists, however, believe that this problem is associated with an increase in pressure inside the skull (the fluid, as mentioned above, begins to move upward in a state of microgravity).

The problems do not end here, but are just beginning. The fact is that the more you are in space, the more bone and muscle mass you lose due to the lack of gravity. Sure, floating in space must definitely be fun, but being on board the ISS literally puts a lot of wear and tear on your body. Fortunately, station residents can combat these problems by frequent physical training two hours a day, using special equipment: a bicycle ergonometer (or just an exercise bike), treadmill(with multiple straps to hold your body in place), as well as a special device called the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED), which uses a vacuum to simulate gravitational pressure and allows you to perform squat exercises. Astronaut Williams even once used this simulator to simulate swimming!

How are things going with maintaining mental health?

“The importance of the entire mission becomes especially clear when you are already on board the ISS. This, in turn, helps you get along with the people you work with. It’s much easier to do there than on Earth because it’s easier to see the common goal that you’re moving towards with the rest of the people on the station,” Coleman comments.

Do the residents of the station even sleep?

With such a busy schedule of working with scientific data, conducting numerous experiments, monitoring proper work of all station systems, physical exercise and many other things, it may seem that these people never sleep at all. However, it is not. Residents of the station are allowed to sleep even while they are “floating” on it. However, each crew member, like to an ordinary person, some personal space is required, so most often people sleep in small “closets” in vertically positioned sleeping bags that hold them while resting. Sleeping time can be up to eight and a half hours a night, but most station residents are fully asleep in just over six hours. The fact is that in microgravity your body does not get as tired as in normal gravity.