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
Stranded Boeing Astronaut Forced to Slum It in a Sleeping Bag by Himself
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.
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.
Eh, I feel like any time I would get annoyed I’d just look out the window and marvel at the view
And remember that everyone you love is down there and you can't even hug your kids. But hopefully you can fix that urine recycling system before everyone dies of thirst.
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.