November 2: Life in Space

On 2 November 2007, three men–one American and two Russians–became the first crew to live on the International Space Station (ISS). The three men sent were William Shepherd of NASA, Sergei K Krikalev or the RSA, and Yuri Gidzenko of the RSA.

The ISS is the ninth inhabitable space station that has been launched and now holds the record as the longest inhabited space station, passing up the Mir. This project is amazing in and of itself, but it also represents something even more important than space exploration and inhabitance. This project symbolizes unity. This space station is a group effort between the space programs of America, Russia, Japan, Europe, and Canada.

The ISS is scheduled to be funded until 2020 and may very well operate for another eight years after the funding is finished. While the ISS is an amazing idea and some may be ecstatic at the thought of living in space, there are still issues that many take for granted here. Food is the main problem. The food they do have is vacuum sealed in plastic bags. It generally is bland and almost, if not entirely, tasteless. To counteract this, many more spices are used out it space than would be on Earth.

Another issue that arose with food selection was the problem of crumbs. Crumbs in space are far more than annoying; they are potentially fatal. Due to the lack of gravity, the crumbs will float around and given enough time, will find their way into air filters and many other pieces of equipment that, if clogged, would cause death to all on board.

–Gary Johnson

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Meet the Author: Gary Johnson

I am in my first semester at Schoolcraft College and am planning on transferring to Michigan State University after saving some money and earning transferable credits to Michigan State. I’m still uncertain as to what end I want to reach, but I hope for a tug in the right direction before leaving Schoolcraft. I enjoy playing guitar, reading books, and playing video games; whenever I’m not working at my part time job or at Schoolcraft.

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Schoolcraft College Student
Categories: World History: Modern
Tags: Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, science, United States

10 Responses

Tyler Lynch says:

13 November 2012 at 1:32 pm

I see the ISS as a first step into the future of human kind. We are dangerously close to exausting the natural resources of this planet and for us to continue as a species I believe we must expand onto other worlds. Hopefully by the time we are capable of doing so we will have come up with a better system of food management then sealing everything in air tight bags.

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Christopher Nichol says:

18 November 2012 at 4:02 am

I found this ‘Today In History’ to be very interesting, as I’m one guy who loves the idea of the universe and space. I wasn’t aware something like this has happened, but it only makes you think what the future could very well hold. I found the crumbs part near the end to be really interesting, and that could definitely be a scary thing. Great job on your ‘Today In History’, Gary!

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wilker32 says:

30 November 2012 at 5:00 pm

The International Space Station (ISS) is a artificial satellite in low earth orbit. This structure was launched in 1198. Like many artificial satellites, the station can be seen with the naked eye from earth without any special equipment. The ISS have been launched by American Space Shuttles, Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets.Since the budget was low it led to the merger of three space station projects with the japanese and Canadians.
In 1993 Mir-2, the proposed American Freedom, and the proposed European Columbus merged into a single multinational program. Using the ISS as a work site for the next space station, called OPSEK (Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex). This station began orbiting in 2010 and the RSA plans to commission the new station before the remainder of the ISS is de-orbited.
ISS purpose is to research and do experiments involving biology, human biology, physics, astronomy,and meteorology. This station is suited for the testing of spacecraft systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Hopefully with a lot of time, money, experiments, testing and everyone working together they will find a way to fix the problem with a food so that the end result will not be the death of the spacemen because the food goes into the air filters.

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fishface273 says:

4 December 2012 at 9:58 am

People might now be able to live in space but if not for what two brothers did at Kitty Hawk one hundred and four years ago that might this might not have happened. On December 17, 1903 the Wright brothers piloted the first motorized plane. Out of the four flight that they had that day their best distance and time were eight hundred and fifty two feet, and fifty nine seconds just under a minute. Just the year before the Wright did have over seven hundred successful glider flights there to. When they went to get an engine for the motorized flights they built it themselves because they could not find one that was powerful yet light enough.

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Corey Kelly says:

5 December 2012 at 11:37 am

There has been much talk on getting humans up to the planet, Mars. A Dutch project, called Mars One, recently started and is hoping to land humans on Mars no later than 2023, and to eventually have a small settlement on the planet by 2033.
There are many risks to living out in space for a long period of time. Other than the exposure of the Sun’s deadly rays, low-no gravity can have major physical effects on the body, including muscle problems and loss of eyesight. I’m very interested to see how they will overcome these issues if they manage to make it the Mars.
-Corey Kelly

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Kelsey Barraco says:

9 December 2012 at 2:40 am

I found this “Today in History” post very interesting and attention- grabbing because I myself am infatuated with space and everything about it. Like you said, the crumbs from some space food pose a very big problem for the equipment on board. But all space food didn’t start out as sealed containers. When space food first was invented, it was in small squeezable tubes the the astronauts had to squeeze into their mouths. Also, after they realized that the bite-sized cubed food was resulting in a lot of crumbs, they started being coated in gelatin to prevent crumbs. Doesn’t sound very appetizing does it? (Borboa)

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Theron Leclerc says:

9 December 2012 at 2:44 pm

While crumbs causing death may be a serious, if a bit comical (I mean come on, who would expect crumbs to be deadly), problem, there are other dangerous things that those living on the ISS must contend with. One such thing would be the biological problems caused by zero gravity. Over time, if left unattended, bones will actually begin to deteriorate in zero-g. In order to counteract this, machines have been developed to simulate the effects of gravity. I can’t remember the exact details, but it involves being put into a machine that spins very fast for quite a long time. Another problem would be the constant exposure to gamma radiation. On Earth, we don’t really need to worry about these harmful electromagnetic waves because of our atmosphere. In space, however, there is no protection from them, so those living aboard the ISS are in constant danger of developing harmful mutations. If you were to ask any of them, though, their response would probably be that it’s worth the risk.

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Brandon Filipiak says:

9 December 2012 at 6:32 pm

I believe that there is a lot to gain by making these technological advancements when it comes to outer space research. this is something that has been taking place since July 29th 1958 with the founding of NASA. through the years NASA has been greatly successful but they also have had some mishaps that have resulted in some devastating deaths of some individuals. But as unfortunate as it is for these individuals to have lost there life it has all been a means to an end. If they are able to make the space station fully operational and deem it as a safe living environment then i believe that they will have even greater success when it comes to the research of other planets and the capability to live places other the the earth. though it hasn’t come to be a problem yet what if we run into a problem with over population on planet earth. would it be a safe alternative at some point for people to live upon the space station and or even be able to inhabit and live on other planets. I believe that through the development of technology and our understanding of other resources beyond this earth that this might one day be a possibility and i think it may happen sooner then we may have anticipated previously. The sky is the limit and all things are possible.

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Benjamin Puninske says:

9 December 2012 at 6:35 pm

On 8 October 2012, the first Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) was accomplished. The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, more commonly know as “Space X”, launched an unmanned vessel entitled Dragon to the ISS. This is the first privatized supply operation ever launched into space, and is seen as a groundbreaking step into the practicality of privatized space exploration.

The prospect of privatized space travel has been a topic of discussion for decades, but the logistics had never seemed realistic until recently. As early as 1984, companies were allowed to privately launch their own satellites into orbit via the Commercial Space Launch Act. Then in 1990, the Launch Services Act required NASA to use commercial sources for cargo if feasible.

Today, Space X has a $1.6 billion dollar contract with NASA to continue supply operations in the following years. Ultimately, the company plans on developing the technology for manned flights. With NASA relying on CRS missions for routine services, privatization could mark the beginning of a new era in space travel.

-Benjamin Puninske

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Alex Zuccarini says:

9 December 2012 at 10:29 pm

The ISS is quite incredible. it helps researchers conduct long term research that cannot be found any other way and it provides a safe location to test spacecrafts that we needed and will need for long missions to the Moon and Mars.

I had no idea that little crumbs in space could be such a big problem tho! With all of the technology we have getting to and from the moon, i feel like we should be able to somehow make food that is 100% safe to eat in space.

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