From
reading Packing for Mars the one chapter that was very fascinating to me
and was what I was thinking when reading was the bathing situation. Chapter ten
Houston, We Have a Fungus: Space Hygiene and the Men Who Stopped
Bathing for Science, has always been something I have thought about when
growing up. It is always a little kid's dream to become an astronaut and see
the stars so close and be able to see the earth in a different view. I was the
"weird" kid apparently though because all I wanted to know is if they
got to bath when they were gone for so long in space. In this chapter they even
talk about how in 1964 to 1965 the Air Force in Ohio, did nine experiments on
"minimal personal hygiene". In one group they took the "minimal"
to the extreme with not letting the men
bath or even sponge bath, use wipes, shave, clean any of their bedding
or change their clothing, and as well do anything about their hair or nails for
that matter. It was so bad that their clothes started to break down in the two
to six weeks that they were doing the study. In one of the studies it says
"Subject C became so nauseated by body order that he was forced to remove
his helmet after wearing it for less than ten hours." One of the groups
were in spacesuits and as well they turned the temperature up to be able to
experience what Lovell and Borman had to deal with for two weeks. I would not
be able to go so long in a horrible suit but at the end of so many weeks anyone
especially myself would want a shower. They said though that this was what the
men complained about the most because "They didn’t want the host water
cooking the skin flakes", and I never even thought that it probably would
hurt and need time to adjust after not bathing for a long period of time.
Towards the end of the chapter it says that “NASA would have done well to add
body order anosmia to its list of desired astronaut traits." This is when
someone is unable to smell certain smells. I would hope if I was stuck in a
spacesuit, with limited oxygen and water, with someone else sweating that I
could not smell anything either.
I find it fascinating that something so simple as hygine is a huge issue when going to space. I guess I just never really thought about it. I could not imagine being sick in a space suit that just makes me cringe! I agree that NASA should require the astronauts to be able to handle bad smells and things like that, just seems like something you need to be able to do if you want to be in space. I found it interesting that after the vigorous study they did where they did not let them bathe or clean anything, that their clothing started to break down. I could not even imagine dealing with that. I really enjoyed your post!
ReplyDeleteI also found this chapter interesting. Even a short car ride with my teenage son after a football game is enough to make me nauseous, I can not image the stench that would come from an enclosed space with three grown men. The collection of the dead skin from the astronauts after the experiment was particularly interesting and makes me glad I did not go into scientific research.
ReplyDeleteI actually know someone with anosmia and I think it's very interesting although I don't think I'd quite love not being able to smell. In that situation, yes of course. God take my power of smell away! I can't imagine not having a shower for that long. I can't even make it a day without getting irritable and insane. I think that they should test the origami experiment and others like the hour late lunch in this scenario and see the differences. I think it'll change the mood drastically if they are uncomfortable with their own stench.
ReplyDeleteAs a nurse I smell many smells, pleasant and not so pleasant and then the downright nauseating smells. Body odor is a terrible smell but there is another smell of dirty body that is even worse for me. I would hope that my sense of smell was gone or I would be shoving Vicks up my nose if I had to be around smells like that in an enclose space.
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