When I was growing up I wanted to be an astronaut. I even wrote my “What I Want to be When I Grow Up” paper in 7th grade on becoming an astronaut. Last month for Book Club we read
Packing for Mars, by Mary Roach (same author as
Stiff). It’s a funny and informative book about astronauts, zero gravity, exploration, and all things space. It had some great insight into the everyday life of an astronaut. Here are a few interesting things I learned.
- On average, an astronaut gains 2.5 inches in height after just one week in space. Our spines are all squished together down here, but up there in zero gravity your spine column can chill out and relax. Wow, 2.5 inches! That would make me a whopping 5’ 3”. Well, if I ever get that call from America’s Next Top Model, I’ll just tell Tyra I need a few weeks in space first.
- Even astronauts get motion sickness sometimes. This made me feel somewhat better about myself, as I have always hated the fact that I am prone to motion sickness. But alas, even the pros get sick at times.
- Being an astronaut is not as glamorous as it seems. Things like showering, using the bathroom, and changing your clothes are not so easy in zero gravity. In fact, it’s kind of gross up there. As I was reading, I thought to myself, “Wait a second…the whole thing sounds a lot like camping.” And as you all know, I love NOT camping.
This book shed a whole new light on space travel, and made me quite glad that I took another path in life. Don’t get me wrong—astronauts still get to do amazingly cool things, but it’s not all glitz and glamour. After reading this book, I am even more glad that my 7th grade teacher wrote, “I always thought you’d make a great teacher” on the top of my paper. It saved me from a life of camping…in space.
2 comments:
When I first started reading this I thought, "There is no way Paige could pee in space..."
space = camping!!! I had never thought of it like that. All the glamour and excitment is gone. Gone.
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