Revealed: UAE astronaut Hazzaa AlMansoori's routine in space

Dubai - The food, which is palatable on earth, tastes bland in space

Now on his third (Earth) day in space, Hazzaa AlMansoori, the first Emirati astronaut, shared his daily routine aboard the International Space Centre (ISS) via a 10-minute radio call to a packed hall at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) on Saturday, September 28. The room full of students, youngsters, parents, Emiratis, expats and journalists got to experience his life aboard the ISS by asking basic questions like how he eats, sleeps and if he feels sick in the space lab.
1-Food tastes bland
The food, which is palatable on earth, tastes bland in space. Hazzaa has to add more salt, sugar or pepper, which are available only in a liquid form. It is the lack of gravity that makes the food tasteless in space. He said there is no gravity to pull the fluids down. Space food is liquefied and packed in tubes. Without gravity, astronauts' sinuses get clogged and they can't really taste much of anything.
2-Balanced diet
Despite the lack of taste, Hazzaa assured that his body is getting proper nourishment as nutritionists ensure that he and the entire ISS crew are given a balanced supply of vitamins and minerals.
3-Sleeping without lying down
As for sleeping, the absence of gravity determines astronauts' napping position. Since everything is weightless, there is no upright or lying down position. Astronauts and cosmonauts on the ISS attach their sleeping bags to a wall or a ceiling, and sleep anywhere as long as they don't float around and bump into something.
4-Healthcare in a sterile environment
If someone gets sick, Hazzaa said that they have to contact the ground control immediately and describe the symptoms. All types of medicines are available at the ISS but common diseases are actually unusual as the entire space station is sterile and free from any bacteria, he added.
5-Best view
Hazzaa again described how beautiful earth looks from space. In a video conference on Friday, he had said that "nothing compares to how beautiful the UAE looks from space". On Saturday, September 28, he said he would to share the beauty of the country with a video footage of earth taken from space. He also recorded a one-hour film documenting life aboard the ISS and his activities aboard, and then recorded his diary for 15 minutes.
6-Space experiments
AlMansoori conducted an experiment on Fluidics (fluid dynamics in space) to observe how liquids move in weightlessness. The first part of the experiment dealt with technical aspects of liquid leakage during movement in space while the second monitored the wave disturbance on the surface of a liquid layer in microgravity. Previously on Friday, September 27, he demonstrated the effects of microgravity by letting his microphone float and twirl in the air.
angel@khaleejtimes.com