It is impossible for astronauts to burp in space

How to make a burrito in space

Just because you’re living at the International Space Station doesn’t mean your cravings disappear. In this video, Chef Traci Des Jardins explains the best way to make a burrito while experiencing microgravity.

Watch what it’s like to spend a day on the International Space Station

Microgravity makes personal care more complex on the International Space Station, where stray, floating materials must be captured to prevent them from entering vents and clogging filtration vents. No-rinse shampoo, water pouches, and other strategies help minimize obstructions.

Microgravity environments reduce muscle mass and bone density

Muscles that assist with balance and resistance to gravity are not subjected to their usual workload on the International Space Station. See the type of exercises that astronauts must complete for roughly two hours daily, and learn why these movements are necessary to preserve astronauts' muscles, bones, and cardiovascular health.

Research suggests the cleanliness of the ISS may make astronauts unhealthy

The International Space Station's sterile conditions deprive astronauts of the opportunity to strengthen their immune systems through microbial exposure. To address this problem, future missions may use probiotic-based cleaners and foster diverse microbes in space habitats.

Muted smell and taste in microgravity complicate meal enjoyment

Astronauts primarily consume freeze-dried meals, which are rehydrated with water recycled from urine and perspiration, directly from bags. Condiments and select cultural items from crew members can enhance the meal experience by boosting flavor. Many individuals report experiencing "food fatigue" due to a lack of fresh produce, limited menu variety, and lingering scents.

Microgravity can alter the evolution of viruses and bacteria

Experiments conducted on the International Space Station have shown that microgravity environments can delay viral and bacterial infections and induce mutations not seen on Earth. These mutations could have implications for long-term space missions and human health and suggest space can serve as a testing ground for developing new therapeutic approaches.

Understanding why suction cups rely on Earth's atmosphere to work

When pressed against a surface, air is squeezed out of a sealed volume, causing the internal pressure to drop below the surrounding atmospheric pressure, and this imbalance creates the "sticking." For this reason, astronauts do not use suction cups or related technologies to stay on spacecraft during spacewalks.

Watch the Space Olympics from the International Space Station

From "synchronized space swimming" to "weightless sharpshooting," crew members in 2021 competed in microgravity versions of events from the summer Games. The "lack-of-floor routine" featured mid-air gymnastics as astronauts floated through space station modules.

Drugs in space: the pharmacy orbiting the Earth

Researchers are developing pharmaceutical solutions for astronauts, whose bodies may not respond the same way in space as they would on Earth. Similar to how microgravity causes changes to astronaut physiology, the environmental shift enables new...

We don't know why astronauts get motion sick

Between 60% and 90% of astronauts get motion sick in space—and many also get motion sick during the first few days upon return. Motion sickness on Earth does not seem to correlate with whether or not astronauts get motion sick in space, so it's not possible to predict who will get ill.

Astronauts follow strict schedules to mimic Earth days and stay healthy in space

Experiencing 15 sunrises and sunsets a day while aboard the International Space Station, visitors preserve their circadian rhythms and mental health with fixed timetables. Astronauts have described sleep as living in a vacuum cleaner due to ongoing air filtration.

Watch how dozens of everyday human tasks are performed in space

This playlist features clips of astronauts aboard the International Space Station explaining how they cook, eat, sleep, and conduct research in microgravity. Other activities to pass the time, including watering plants and playing soccer, are also shown.

There are no established minimum fitness standards for spaceflight

Microgravity is known to cause arterial hardening, bone weakening, and other health issues, but the novelty of space tourism and the minimal exposure time for suborbital trips have limited the number of research studies. Many companies have participants sign extensive waivers to bypass the requirement of specific medical standards.

Astronauts exercise on the International Space Station

Astronauts maintain bone, muscle, and cardiovascular health with physical activity. It's crucial that they make time to exercise for approximately two hours per day. This resource offers a behind-the-scenes look at how high-intensity workouts help prevent muscle atrophy, bone density loss, and aerobic decline during monthslong space missions.

Oxygen is produced in the International Space Station from recycled water, which is split into hydrogen and oxygen gases using an electric current.

Microgravity environments improve the success of 3D bioprinting

Gravity can cause gaps, such as those in the chambers of a 3D-printed heart, to collapse before stem cells, hydrogels, and biochemicals bind together during the bioprinting process. Rather than Earth's surface, some bioprinting is done on the International Space Station, where defective organs are also printed to test treatment methods.

Mold growth in space raises the hypothesis of life being brought to Earth

Panspermia suggests that life could be carried throughout the cosmos by asteroids, comets, and other objects, but it requires organisms that can withstand the extreme cold of space travel, stellar radiation, lack of water, and intense heat of planetary impacts. The discovery of mold on the International Space Station and experiments showing it can withstand radiation in outer space-like conditions increase the plausibility of the hypothesis.

Prolonged space travel significantly impacts multiple human body systems

Astronauts can lose 20% of their muscle mass after two weeks and 10% of their bone mass after six months in space. Decreased sharpness of eyesight and changes in neural connectivity, brain structure and gut bacteria have also been observed.

In 2013, an astronaut's helmet began filling with water during a spacewalk

A leak in the cooling system of Luca Parmitano's spacesuit caused water to obscure his vision and silence his radio as the International Space Station entered Earth's shadow, forcing him to feel his way back to the airlock in darkness.

Protecting astronauts against space radiation

Outside the protective atmosphere of Earth, astronauts are constantly bombarded by radiation, which, among other dangers, increases the risk cancer. While those of us on Earth can mitigate the effects of similar radiation by limiting exposure,...

How do astronauts battle loneliness and depression?

You’re stranded hundreds of miles away from your friends and family, constantly surrounded by coworkers who also are your roommates, and you’re only allowed the shortest of walks outside. There’s also no takeout, and gravity has essentially broken up with you. You might need a little help adjusting mentally. That’s where space psychologists and psychiatrists step in, according to this article.

Astronauts on the International Space Station have tested an algae-powered bioreactor that converts carbon dioxide, water, and light into oxygen and edible, protein-rich biomass.

Has anyone had sex in space?

Reproduction is a basic human function, and while we've spent decades in space, no research has been done into the process. With many discussing the possibility of human-occupied bases on the moon, Mars, and more, understanding how sex works outside...

Watch a visualization of what it would look like to move along Earth's surface as fast as the International Space Station, or about 23 times the speed of sound.

Space tourism rockets emit up to 100 times more CO₂ per passenger than airplanes

Rocket launches release significant amounts of water vapor, nitrous oxide, and rocket propellants, which generate greenhouse gases and air pollutants. High-altitude emissions can persist for years, affecting the ozone layer.

Technologies developed for the ISS have brought benefits to people on Earth

About 93% of water used onboard the International Space Station is recycled through filtration and purification systems that have since been used in regions lacking access to clean water. Treatments to mitigate bone loss and muscle atrophy in astronauts can also help aging adults.

The Russian Federal Space Agency enabled the first space tourism journey

NASA refused to take Dennis Tito, who had no formal training as an astronaut, up to the International Space Station. Instead, the American engineer and entrepreneur traveled aboard the Soyuz TM-32 mission and described the initial experience of microgravity after engine shut-off as the "most spectacular" part of the flight.

Who’s in space right now?

Hundreds of people (and a few animals) have been to space since the first creatures flew past the Kármán line in 1947. There are a handful of astronauts aboard the International Space Station at any time, while others may be cresting space in...

NASA has partnered with several private companies to promote commercial space stations

The retirement of the International Space Station in 2030 has led NASA to refocus its efforts on continuing microgravity research through private partnerships, including the support of multiple commercial space stations' design and development.

Using fitness wearables to track muscle wasting in astronauts

All that exercising, and astronauts still are likely to lose a large amount of muscle mass while in microgravity. Astronauts can lose up to 20 percent of their muscle in as little as five days in space. Currently, tracking muscle loss means waiting until astronauts land to remeasure their muscle density post-trip. This article explains a NASA-backed fitness wearable that may be able to track muscle atrophy as it happens.

Civilians on short-term spaceflights can experience long-term astronaut health impacts

A collection of 44 studies—primarily based on data from a 2021 tourist trip to low Earth orbit—identified immune system disruption and some kidney damage in tourists, with women appearing to recover from space travel faster than men. Return trips from Mars may require human travelers to be on dialysis.

Scientists determine the smells of objects in outer space

Using spectrographic techniques, scientists determine the chemical composition of planetary atmospheres, comets, and other objects in space. Combining these chemicals in labs on Earth has revealed locations in space that smell like nail polish remover, rotten fish, and urine.

Space trash forced astronauts on the International Space Station to take shelter

An inactive Russian satellite broke up into nearly 200 pieces, prompting astronauts on the space station to take shelter in a docked spacecraft and a capsule that could be used to escape in case of emergency.

When retired, the International Space Station will undergo a controlled de-orbit

With plans to transition low-Earth orbit operations to private entities, the ISS is expected to be retired by 2030, using a SpaceX de-orbit vehicle. Although reentry will burn up most hardware, NASA intends for any surviving debris to fall into an uninhabited ocean area.

Tardigrades have not been shown to survive all space conditions at once

A 2007 mission launched several species into low-Earth orbit, exposing them to microgravity in temperature-controlled modules. Survivability rates were high for microgravity exposure alone, but plummeted when combined with exposure to the full UV spectrum and the vacuum of space.

Space trash is making low Earth orbit increasingly dangerous for spacecraft

Millions of fragments from satellites, rockets, and other spacecraft that are no longer operational move thousands of meters per second as they circle Earth. Even a piece of debris a centimeter in size can cause mission-ending damage to space stations, telescopes, and astronauts.

A look at the foods eaten by astronauts during and after the space race

After John Glenn became the first American to demonstrate that eating in space was possible by eating apple puree out of a tube, meals were prepared for astronauts to meet an approximately 2,800-calorie-a-day requirement via freeze-dried foods. Meal quality gradually improved throughout the Apollo program, including the Apollo 8 crew's nondehydrated Christmas meal in 1968.

What is space sickness?

Mix motion sickness minus gravity with a host of other variables, and you’ve got a recipe for space adaptation syndrome. It can hit anyone, even astronauts who escaped the issue previously. This article details the history and science behind space sickness.

Orbital spaceflight requires reaching 23 times the speed of sound

After the spacecraft accelerates up to at least 17,500 miles per hour, space tourists can travel in elliptical orbits hundreds of miles above Earth for days or weeks at a time. Suborbital flights instead max out at about 2,200 miles per hour and travel only 50 to 70 miles above Earth's surface for a few minutes.

The inhabitability of the Martian environment presents significant colonization risks

Terraforming the thin atmosphere, toxic dust, extreme cold, and lack of magnetic field is infeasible, given limitations to the size of what can be sent to Mars. NASA and SpaceX are instead exploring creating underground shelters.

Scientists have proposed using lasers to push space trash into Earth's atmosphere

Such projects would allow most debris to burn up and no longer pose a risk to active satellites, telescopes, and astronauts on space stations. Enacting these plans would require substantial investments from private and governmental space agencies and overcoming international laws that prevent the removal of another country's space equipment.

Five hazards of human spaceflight

From space radiation to isolation, humans struggle when it comes to traveling and living in space. What does this mean for long-term spaceflight? This hour-long podcast episode attempts to answer that question while detailing five major spaceflight hazards.

Why the edge of Earth's atmosphere varies depending on which property is considered

As the distance from Earth's center increases, the planet's gravitational force weakens, causing it to gradually lose its ability to retain gases at the farthest edge of its atmosphere—the exosphere. At a height of approximately 200,000 kilometers (124,000 miles)—halfway to the Moon—the exosphere has so little density that it is indistinguishable from interstellar space.

The International Space Station is slowly falling due to atmospheric drag

To stay in orbit, the largest human-made object in space needs periodic rocket boosts to maintain its orbital speed and height. Its solar panels collect enough energy to power over 60 average US homes each year.

Gravity assists are crucial for space travel beyond Mars

By traveling near a moving celestial object, a passing object can gain or lose speed and change direction due to the acceleration provided by their mutual gravity. Some missions are planned around spacecraft performing multiple assists, or slingshots, to reduce fuel requirements for long-distance travel.

Astronauts agree: The moon smells like gunpowder

Twelve astronauts have walked on the moon to date, and they all agree that our lunar neighbor smells like gunpowder. Scientists argue this scent comes from unstable minerals that cling to their suits and the rocks they return to the ship. Notwithstanding, space itself has a different smell, often compared to steak or metal, which experts believe, rather poetically, is the smell of dead stars.

Why Earth's atmosphere constantly loses the universe's lightest elements to space

The masses of hydrogen and helium are too small for these gases to be held by Earth's gravitational force, particularly when these atoms are given energy from collisions with high-speed particles from the sun. Although the planet loses a meter-wide balloon's worth of hydrogen every second, it will still take billions of years to exhaust the planet of this element.

How the loss of Earth's atmosphere would cause oceans to boil at freezing temperatures

Many phenomena requiring air pressure, from the flight of birds and aircraft to the act of breathing, would no longer be possible. Because sound travels through vibrating air molecules, the loss of the planet's atmosphere would also create a silent environment. Even during daytime hours, the sky would resemble a clear night sky.

Since 2019, a free-floating robotic system named Astrobee has helped astronauts with routine tasks on the International Space Station.

Astronauts have used a small portable device to take the first-ever X-rays in space, opening the door for new opportunities for aerospace medicine.