Microgravity can mess with all everyday chores!
Space is a fascinating unknown to the vast majority of people out there, with a gravity that is incredibly minute compared to the standard 9.8ms2 down here on Earth.
It's also known as Free Falling, essentially where the rotational motion of the orbiting object will literally be falling towards the Earth in a constant amount but sideways, keeping it roughly at the same distance and keeping the occupants in what some incorrectly call Zero-G (after all, you can't get rid of Gravity).
Moving away from the sciency stuff, there's a real effect on people when we're in that environment - we get all floaty.
This poses a problem for a significant chunk of everything we do in our daily routine; from sleeping (done in a zippered bag), using the toilet (too complex to summarise), exercise (strapped down to a treadmill with elastic) and now explained in detail is brushing your teeth.
It's quite awkward, involving using a bag of water to suspend droplets that absorb into the bristles of the brush, swallowing the toothpaste when done and the less-than-pleasant use of the bag that the water came in when it's been drunk (do astronauts ever get the fresh/used bags confused?).
There's a big post all about it from Leroy Chiao over at Gizmodo, so check it out and post what astronomical activities you think would be much harder without the huge pull of gravity at Earth's surface.
Issue: 107 | December, 2009