Her space experience describes a female astronaut who lived for 6 months on the International Space Station.
Kayla Barron is a NASA astronaut who spent almost six months on the International Space Station (ISS). She revealed what it’s like to live in space in zero gravity, talking about everything from bathroom habits to exercise routines to eating.
Kayla, 35, of Washington, DC, was a member of the Expedition 66 crew from November 10, 2021 to May 6, 2022 and, as part of her mission, conducted several scientific experiments to help identify new materials that could be used for the design of future spacecraft.
The astronaut’s relationship with the toilet
During his time in space he shared images and videos on social media, and in a recent Reddit thread he gave more insight into what was going on behind the scenes of the ISS.
When asked how she goes to the bathroom by an eight-year-old girl, she revealed: “We have space toilets with fans that create suction to remove waste from our bodies. We urinate into a tube with a funnel at the end and defecate in a bag inside a container. It takes some getting used to, but it works very well!’
Sleep
As for sleep, Kayla explains that since the ISS orbits the planet every 90 minutes, crews experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day and “spend about half the time in the sun and half the time in the shade.”
However, because humans follow a roughly 24-hour cycle, also known as a circadian rhythm, this is how astronauts structure their days in space.
Kayla and her crewmates worked GMT and usually slept from 10pm to 6am.
Canned teriyaki chicken is amazing
Meals also followed a similar structure to Earth, and the dry foods he had were much better than he had imagined, he reports.
Some of her favorite culinary creations included vegetable quiche, shrimp paste, and “perhaps the most coveted: the Japanese Space Agency’s canned teriyaki chicken! I highly recommend it.”
Exercise on the space station
On her Instagram page, where she goes by @astro_kayla, Kayla posted a video to show how she works out in space.
In the video, he is seen using various machines, including a treadmill and some bicycle pedals, which he operates while standing and pushes down to avoid swaying.
She explains in the accompanying caption that astronauts on the ISS exercise daily to “stay fit and prevent muscle atrophy and bone loss.”
For her, exercise also provides a “huge psychological benefit” as she can have some time to herself.
“I would feel pretty shut down without exercising,” she said.
Breathtaking view
Aside from the “amazing equipment,” one of the other highlights of the onboard gym, Kayla said, was the view, thanks to a large observation deck.
He wrote on the overlay: “People often come here and take pictures…it has the best view of any gym in the world or off the planet to my knowledge.”
bathing in space
In another clip, Kayla shows viewers how she washes her hair in space.
Since water behaves differently in zero gravity, with water floating instead of splashing, the astronaut demonstrates how she should use a bag with a straw to shoot water directly onto her scalp.
This way, the water is absorbed by your hair instead of escaping.
She then has to run her fingers through her hair to make sure all her strands are damp.
Once this is done, use a “shampoo bar” before rinsing it three or four times, to check that all the suds are gone.
In the video, her hair can be seen standing up after she finishes taking a bath.
From submarines to… Space
As for her career path, the Washington native graduated from the US Naval Academy with a degree in systems engineering.
Then, as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, Kayla earned an MS in Nuclear Engineering from Cambridge University, before becoming a Submarine Warfare Officer.
Following her assignment to the Navy, NASA selected Kayla to join the astronaut candidate class of 2017 and she reported for duty in August of that year, following a training process.
Giving her advice to other aspiring astronauts, Kayla emphasizes: “Never close the door on yourself! When you dream big, it’s easy to talk yourself out of risking failure, but failure is often the best opportunity to learn and grow. If you don’t take risks, you will never reach your goals.”
“Share your dreams with people you trust, take risks, and don’t assume that just because things are hard, it means you’re not good at them,” he explains.
“When I joined the Navy, I never dreamed that one day I would be an astronaut. I knew that I wanted to serve and dedicate my life to something bigger than myself. It was only when I served on a submarine that I thought I might have the potential to become an astronaut,” says the 35-year-old astronaut.