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  • Vsauce! Kevin here.

  • Astronaut Mike Hopkins ran around the world. Sort of. During a 12 mile run on a treadmill

  • the space station had orbited the Earth and traveled more than 25 thousand miles.

  • What the FAK.....the facts and knowledge on the daily life of Astronauts.

  • With a new sunrise every 90 minutes interrupting their natural circadian rhythms along with

  • loud engine noises, and floating in microgravity it's much harder to sleep in space than on

  • Earth. Astronauts have to tether sleeping bags to the ground, ceiling, or wall so they

  • don't float around and bump into things. Aboard the International Space Station, crew members

  • have individual sleeping quarters that are well ventilated so they're not surrounded

  • by the carbon dioxide they're exhaling. Ear plugs, sleep masks, and sleeping pills are

  • used to combat the unusual feeling of sleeping without gravity, yet still astronauts get

  • 30 to 60 minutes less sleep per night on average compared to when they're on Earth.

  • Since water won't naturally fall into a drain system, astronauts get creative when it comes

  • to showering. Like taking a sponge bath where they moisten a cloth using warm packaged water

  • with soap already mixed in, rubbing themselves down, and drying off with a towel. Sometimes

  • they can shower in a plastic cylinder that goes from floor to ceiling to prevent water

  • from floating away. For their hair there is a rinseless shampoo that is applied, rubbed

  • in, and wiped off with a towel.

  • Because there's no washer or dryer - clothes are disposable. Shirts, socks, and underwear

  • are changed every day or two and pants once a week. That's just inside the stabilized

  • interior, if they're required to go out into space it gets a lot more complicated. Space

  • suits must protect from a pressurized atmosphere, provide oxygen, allow sight and movement,

  • protect from radiation and micro meteoroids, and do all of this while keeping the human

  • body at a comfortable temperature. There are 25 steps to take when getting into and out

  • of the 13 layer, 280 pound, 12 million dollar suit referred to as an EMU.

  • Astronauts select their food menus about 5 months before taking flight. Those selections

  • are sent in for review and analyzed for nutritional content because nutrition is vital to the

  • health of the crew. Each is provided with three meals a day plus snacks with two days

  • worth of emergency meals per person if needed. Aboard the shuttles and at the ISS foods come

  • prepared in four ways: thermostabalized, rehydratable, natural form, and irradiated. They're stored

  • in special packaging to prevent anything from floating around and even condiments like salt

  • and pepper are suspended in liquid to prevent particles from floating away.

  • For exercise there's a treadmill, stationary bike, or resistance training. Two and a half

  • hours a day are devoted to physical fitness. One reason this is so important is because

  • astronauts lose plasma throughout the body because body fluids move around in microgravity

  • and exercise is proven to increase the amount of plasma. When they're not working out or

  • walking in space they stay entertained by watching TV streamed from Earth, working on

  • the computer, and reading. Along with doing experiments on how things work in microgravity.

  • Toilets are equipped with footholds and both men and women can urinate standing up with

  • the aid of a funnel. When its time to sit down astronauts pull a bar over their laps

  • like when riding a roller coaster that fastens to their thighs. To avoid anything floating

  • around, space toilets use flowing air instead of water to flush.

  • When astronauts return from spacewalks and remove their helmets there's a lingering odor

  • of what space smells like left on their suits and it's described to be similar to burnt

  • metal.

  • I'm gonna leave you with this - who is the only US President to ever be present during

  • the launch of a shuttle?

  • Before we go here's last video's winner.

  • Leave your answers in the comments below - be sure to subscribe for more Vsauce2.

  • And as always - thanks for watching.

Vsauce! Kevin here.

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