This is the blog for Anousheh Ansari, first female space tourist and the first blogging astronaut, and she has a fascinating account of adjusting to space.
It's interesting from the point of view of a someone who has pretty much led an ordinary life, someone like us, or our main character.
you know, we oughta create a resource collection thread, a place where people can post nice resources for science and fantasy...just the other day there was a post for describing clothes...
[This message has been edited by billawaboy (edited March 23, 2010).]
"Mission control, I am running low on supplies. When do I get to come back home?"
"Bent tree, we had to make a decision. Because of our budget, We had a problem with the maximum weight. We had to decide whether to add retro rockets or carpet the cabin floor."
Bent tree runs his foot on the soft fluffy floor surface....
She comments on the complexities of washing hair in space - and here a video she made of her washing her hair - in SPACE!!! Hair washing in Space!
Another problem was brushing teeth - you can't rinse and spit - it seems if you do that you end up swallowing minty spit water...which was the solution they came up with.
What's also interesting that as she is brushing she is never still her body slowly spins or moves - at one point she was brushing sideways, then upside down - and you always have to have a hand free to catch and orient or push off a surface. That means you always have to have one arm dedicated just to maintain your position!
[This message has been edited by billawaboy (edited March 23, 2010).]
Not sure if this was in space or a training flight - but the astronaut literally throws the cat like a basketball and it bounces off the sidewall - twice (and once it bounced off the floor after bouncing off the wall) - caroming away, legs moving in a blur trying to catch a foothold that would never come.
I really shouldn't have laughed so much.