Stranded Boeing Astronaut Forced to Slum It in a Sleeping Bag by Himself
Stranded Boeing Astronaut Forced to Slum It in a Sleeping Bag by Himself
Those tranded Boeing Starliner astronauts are apparently being forced to deal with some pretty undignified living standards.
It sounds less than ideal — but as the report notes, Williams and Wilmore's difficulties don't end with their sleeping arrangements.
As with every ISS mission, the Starliner astronauts initially had specific jobs to do on board the station that would have eaten up their eight-day journey. As Time reports, their main priority was checking in on the Boeing capsule and making sure its communications, life support, and other essential functions were in good shape.
With that checklist done and their journey having been extended until possibly February due to Starliner's technical issues, Wilmore and Williams have instead been assisting their fellow crew members with their tasks and experiments, including repairing a urine processing pump.
Beyond that lovely job, Wilmore and Williams were also forced to stretch their clothing rations because there's no laundry on board the ISS. Generally speaking, astronauts pack enough clothes for the length of their journey, and with their trip home having been pushed back repeatedly, the Starliner crew had to make do until a Northrop Grumman resupply mission finally came to deliver them new clothes earlier this month.
Beyond that lovely job, Wilmore and Williams were also forced to stretch their clothing rations because there's no laundry on board the ISS. Generally speaking, astronauts pack enough clothes for the length of their journey, and with their trip home having been pushed back repeatedly, the Starliner crew had to make do until a Northrop Grumman resupply mission finally came to deliver them new clothes earlier this month.
I can imagine hating everything about being up there and hating life and hating your job and hating boeing so fucking much right now. Sounds miserable. At this point, no one will be excited to do a one week mission ever again because of the possibility of this happening.
Trust me, wearing used clothing is far, FAR from the most uncomfortable thing an astronaut does. If something like that bothers you, you wouldn’t sign up for being an astronaut.
Hell, I wouldn't sign up just because of the amount of exercise they have to do every day to avoid atrophy. I'm far too lazy.
At this point, no one will be excited to do a one week mission ever again because of the possibility of this happening.
I'm sure theyve got plenty of capable people lined up that are chomping at the bit to do it. People know how risky going to space is, and if this turns into just an extended stay, it's not going to deter the people who have been training to do this.
It sounds like you can definitely imagine a problem.
As opposed to what? Sharing a bed with another astronaut? I thought that solo sleeping bags were the standard.
Most of the regular crew gets a sleeping bag in a cupboard with some small locker space for personal effects.
Wilmore has just the bag, off in the Japanese module. And I guess he has to store personal effects in the Starliner. Though presumably he only packed for 8 days.
In climate controlled zero gravity, there's no point to having more bedding than a light sleeping bag just to keep you from floating off somewhere. My guess is the big selling point on the cupboards is some noise damping, and maybe some protection from lighting. Spacecraft have noisy machines running all the time to keep you alive
Better than sleeping on the front porch.
Can you get cabin fever in space?
They've each done longer missions on ISS than their current stay. Suni once held the record among female astronauts.
Considering they're trapped in a place the size of a couple of buses? I'd say absolutely.
Am I missing something? I thought their lives were in danger or something. We're here talking about sleeping arrangements and clothing? From what they described, I put up with FAR worse while camping in various weather conditions here on earth. Am I confused about what they're going through?
Essentially the chance of something wrong happening on there return is high than like 1/270 or something, Scott Manley said 1/270 in a video so that's where I'm getting that number, so they're keeping them up there until they can either bring that chance down or get them another way home. If shit were to hit the fan in their orbit and they had to come home right now they could hop in Starliner and return but the risk for non emergencies is higher than NASA wants to accept right now.
They aren't stranded on a desert island, but they are stranded.
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