Packing for Mars

Mary Roach does it again with her book Packing For Mars.  I've read her other humorous scientific books about sex (Bonk), death (Stiff), and the digestive system (Gulp).  This book is about being in space where humans are not meant to go.  Living without gravity poses huge problems in terms of movement, electronics, equipment, and body functions.  Even basic functions like urination are different in space because the urine doesn't gather at the bottom of the bladder sending signals to the nerves that get stronger as the bladder gets fuller.  In space the bladder doesn't sense fullness until it is completely full from top to bottom and it is almost too late.  Astronauts have to schedule their bathroom breaks to prevent accidents.  The author goes into great detail about our #2 function.  NASA has come up with all types of equipment for space toilets but often they don't know how things will work until they give it a try.  Once they tried a space toilet that had a fan with blades to pull material into the toilet.  The fan blades churned the waste and the paper into a paper mache material that stuck to the sides of the toilet.  The part of the toilet worked well.  What didn't work is that the paper mache material was "freeze dried" in the  receptacle.  When the next astronaut came by to use the facilities the material that was freeze dried was churned again and flaked off the sides and crappy dust floated up into the living compartment.  All astronauts are highly motivated people who know life in space will be difficult.  Astronauts really want to be in space.  The chapter on space food was very interesting.  Some of the uncomfortable aspects of being an astronaut  are tested in labs on earth.  Paid volunteers eat restrictive diets while lying in bed.  One experiment involved wearing the same clothes for a month at a time while checking the bacteria on the skin.  If you can't shower, changing clothes is a huge help to the skin.  Not showering and not changing clothes is really bad.  Fecal bacteria was found between the toes and inside the ears.  If you want to learn about space AND be entertained to the point of laughing out loud, this book is the one for you.