Question
Life on the Space Station
Rebecca Sparling
The astronauts that live and work on the International Space Station perform important experiments designed to benefit the citizens of Earth. The station also functions as a city in space—a place where human beings discover what it takes to live away from our planet. The International Space Station is a monumental joint effort between the United States, Canada, Russia, Japan, Brazil, and the countries of the European Space Agency. Three-person crews spend an average of three months living and working on the station as it orbits our planet. Though the astronauts’ main concern is completing daily experiments and maintenance tasks, they still need to eat, sleep, and play just like everyone else on Earth.
In the morning, the crew receives a wakeup call from the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas. Each day, the control center selects a new song to inform the crew that it’s time to rise and shine. Sometimes the control center plays festive holiday tunes, but they often play requests from the astronauts or dedications from their families and friends. Hearing a favorite song can help the astronauts feel connected to their loved ones back home.
Living in a microgravity (low gravity) environment makes an astronaut’s daily grooming routine an interesting experience. Each crewmember has a personal hygiene kit that attaches to a stable surface to prevent it from floating away. Inside the kit is everything he or she needs to keep clean. Because water is a precious commodity in space, astronauts clean their hair with a rinseless shampoo—a product originally designed for hospital patients who couldn’t take showers. The station has no shower or bath facilities, so crewmembers use sponges to clean up in the morning.
Eating in space is similar to eating on Earth, with a few small adjustments. The station’s food supply is completely dehydrated to prevent it from spoiling in an unrefrigerated environment. When it’s mealtime, the astronauts make their way to the galley where they add water to their freeze-dried food and beverages at a hydration station. They then heat their food in a forced-air convection oven for about twenty to thirty minutes. When it’s time to eat, astronauts connect food containers to a tray. Fabric fasteners on the tray keep the astronauts’ meals secure in their laps. From this point on, the process of eating in space is nearly identical to eating on Earth. The only difference is that an astronaut’s food might actually float away.
When astronauts aren’t working hard, they’re taking time to relax just like the rest of us. Mission control schedules specific times for astronauts to exercise each day. Sometimes crewmembers jog on treadmills or play games of low-gravity basketball to keep their bodies in tiptop shape. When it’s time to relax, astronauts unwind by reading, playing video games, and talking with their families on specially engineered telephones.
When the day’s work is complete, it’s time for the crewmembers to get some shuteye. There are two special sleep chambers onboard the station, but astronauts usually just attach sleeping bags to parts of the station when it’s time to turn in. Because the sun rises every ninety minutes during a mission, the crew covers the windows to reproduce the darkness of night so they can get some well-deserved rest. In exactly eight hours, mission control will wake them up to start the process all over again!
Question
What is MOST likely the reason that astronauts attach their sleeping bags to parts of the station?
Responses
A to give their coworkers their own spaceto give their coworkers their own space
B to prevent them from floating in their sleepto prevent them from floating in their sleep
C to reduce the risk of being disturbed by sunlightto reduce the risk of being disturbed by sunlight
D to make the cockpit a more comfortable environment
Rebecca Sparling
The astronauts that live and work on the International Space Station perform important experiments designed to benefit the citizens of Earth. The station also functions as a city in space—a place where human beings discover what it takes to live away from our planet. The International Space Station is a monumental joint effort between the United States, Canada, Russia, Japan, Brazil, and the countries of the European Space Agency. Three-person crews spend an average of three months living and working on the station as it orbits our planet. Though the astronauts’ main concern is completing daily experiments and maintenance tasks, they still need to eat, sleep, and play just like everyone else on Earth.
In the morning, the crew receives a wakeup call from the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas. Each day, the control center selects a new song to inform the crew that it’s time to rise and shine. Sometimes the control center plays festive holiday tunes, but they often play requests from the astronauts or dedications from their families and friends. Hearing a favorite song can help the astronauts feel connected to their loved ones back home.
Living in a microgravity (low gravity) environment makes an astronaut’s daily grooming routine an interesting experience. Each crewmember has a personal hygiene kit that attaches to a stable surface to prevent it from floating away. Inside the kit is everything he or she needs to keep clean. Because water is a precious commodity in space, astronauts clean their hair with a rinseless shampoo—a product originally designed for hospital patients who couldn’t take showers. The station has no shower or bath facilities, so crewmembers use sponges to clean up in the morning.
Eating in space is similar to eating on Earth, with a few small adjustments. The station’s food supply is completely dehydrated to prevent it from spoiling in an unrefrigerated environment. When it’s mealtime, the astronauts make their way to the galley where they add water to their freeze-dried food and beverages at a hydration station. They then heat their food in a forced-air convection oven for about twenty to thirty minutes. When it’s time to eat, astronauts connect food containers to a tray. Fabric fasteners on the tray keep the astronauts’ meals secure in their laps. From this point on, the process of eating in space is nearly identical to eating on Earth. The only difference is that an astronaut’s food might actually float away.
When astronauts aren’t working hard, they’re taking time to relax just like the rest of us. Mission control schedules specific times for astronauts to exercise each day. Sometimes crewmembers jog on treadmills or play games of low-gravity basketball to keep their bodies in tiptop shape. When it’s time to relax, astronauts unwind by reading, playing video games, and talking with their families on specially engineered telephones.
When the day’s work is complete, it’s time for the crewmembers to get some shuteye. There are two special sleep chambers onboard the station, but astronauts usually just attach sleeping bags to parts of the station when it’s time to turn in. Because the sun rises every ninety minutes during a mission, the crew covers the windows to reproduce the darkness of night so they can get some well-deserved rest. In exactly eight hours, mission control will wake them up to start the process all over again!
Question
What is MOST likely the reason that astronauts attach their sleeping bags to parts of the station?
Responses
A to give their coworkers their own spaceto give their coworkers their own space
B to prevent them from floating in their sleepto prevent them from floating in their sleep
C to reduce the risk of being disturbed by sunlightto reduce the risk of being disturbed by sunlight
D to make the cockpit a more comfortable environment
Answers
Answered by
GPT-4o mini
The MOST likely reason that astronauts attach their sleeping bags to parts of the station is:
**B to prevent them from floating in their sleep.**
In a microgravity environment, objects, including astronauts, do not have weight in the same way they do on Earth, so attaching their sleeping bags helps keep them in place while they sleep.
**B to prevent them from floating in their sleep.**
In a microgravity environment, objects, including astronauts, do not have weight in the same way they do on Earth, so attaching their sleeping bags helps keep them in place while they sleep.