[ad_1]
It’s the plot of plenty of sci-fi films: two astronauts are stranded in space and don’t yet know how they’re getting back.
Sunita “Suni” Williams and Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in June as the first crew to test Boeing’s new Starliner, which suffered helium leaks and thruster failures before it docked – raising questions over how safe it is for the return flight.
Boeing has insisted the astronauts are not stuck and said “there’s no increased risk” in bringing them back in the Starliner, but NASA is contemplating getting them back on a SpaceX flight instead.
They should have only been in space for eight days, but they’ve now been there for more than two months and may have to stay until February.
But do they have enough supplies for such a stint, how are they coping mentally and what is day-to-day life like at the ISS?
Size and facilities
The ISS is 356 feet (109 metres) end-to-end, one yard shy of the full length of an American football field including the end zones.
The living and work space, NASA says, is larger than a six-bedroom house, and has six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window.
As you’ll see later, it’s not quite as luxurious as it sounds.
Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore aren’t alone; they’re sharing the facilities with seven other astronauts from other missions; four of them fellow Americans and three of them Russians.
Is there enough food, water and oxygen?
Yes, there are reserve supplies up there to keep astronauts going for plenty of time.
The space station has its own oxygen-generating systems, and about 50% of oxygen exhaled from carbon dioxide is recovered.
As for water, the station has a urine-into-drinking-water recycling system, and a part of that system also captures moisture…
[ad_2]
