So you’re going into space. Congratulations! But before you blast off, there are a few things you should no…er, we mean know.
NO RUNNING WATER. You can’t just turn on the faucet and brush your teeth. Why? Water doesn’t flow in a weightless environment—it just breaks up into tiny droplets and floats around. So you just have to swallow the toothpaste or wipe it away with a towel.
NO BUBBLES. Washing yourself isn’t easy because soap bubbles, like water, would float all over the spacecraft. That means you’re going to have to use a towel soaked with alcohol or soap. And if you plan on washing your hair, you’ll have to use a special dry shampoo.
NO BREAD. Bread means crumbs—and those little tiny crumbs could float into someone’s eye (or worse yet, into the spacecraft’s components). So if you want to make a sandwich, you’ll have to use a tortilla.
NO BURPS OR FARTS. Space food is designed to be easily digestible so astronauts won’t pass gas. Why? Astronauts discovered that if they burped, quite often they vomited. Can you imagine barf floating around a space capsule? And of course, a fart in that small an area would be enough to get you voted off space island.
Song sung most often in the U.S.: “Happy Birthday.”