Chris Hadfield answers kids' questions about living and staying healthy in space
'When you first get to space, it is really weird,' says retired astronaut and Order of Canada recipient
Few people know about staying indoors better than retired astronaut Chris Hadfield — even though he usually did it outside the Earth's atmosphere.
Staying at home to help slow the spread of COVID-19 bears some similarities, but he said many Canadians have more tools than ever to weather the storm.
"We've never been better set up to self-isolate — you know, all the connectivity [and] communications like you and I and the rest of Canada have the opportunity to have right now," he told Checkup host Duncan McCue.
Hadfield answered questions from kids about self-isolation, living in space and more in Checkup's Ask Me Anything segment.
How was space made?- Theodore Michellin from Toronto, seven years old.
Theodore Michellin opened the segment with a doozy of a question: How was space made?
"Nobody knows the answer to your question, Theodore. Nobody," said Hadfield.
He explained that there are "echoes" of a vast explosion that kick-started the known universe, about 14 billion years ago, dubbed the Big Bang. But it happened so long ago that finding and examining those echoes are like "detective work" for scientists.
"Nobody knows the answer as to why that happened, or what was there before ... We can talk about what space is and where things are, but nobody knows how it was made."
What do you do if someone gets sick in space?- Claire Murphy of Stoneville, Ont., nine years old.
Claire Murphy said the current pandemic has been on her mind, so she wondered what would happen if someone got sick in space.
According to Hadfield, the first step is to try to not get sick during a mission in the first place.
"So that's why for astronauts, we hire healthy people and then we exercise all the time and take care of our bodies," he said.
All astronauts also enter a two-week quarantine period before a mission to make sure no one brings a cold or other sickness on board with them.
Sometimes, an astronaut may also be a doctor, and can help the crew if anyone gets sick or suffers a minor injury. But in the event the doctor got sick, Hadfield said he underwent extensive first aid and medical training as a backup.
"I did first aid, but then I did emergency medical training through community college. And then I worked in a hospital in all of the different wards," he said.
"All that experience, that was just so that I would be ready in case in case the doctor got sick."
Do you get a stomach ache when you go around and around the Earth?- Veronica Peori from Halifax.
Veronica Peori asked if there is motion sickness in space.
"When you first get to space, it is really weird," said Hadfield.
He likened the human body's initial reaction to zero-gravity to sitting in a chair and feeling like "you were falling off the highest cliff in the world forever," even though you know you're still sitting down.
"When you first get to space, pretty much everybody feels like they have to throw up. But we don't want to throw up while we're flying a rocket ship — especially without gravity, throwing up is messy," he said.
Astronauts have to take anti-nausea medication, explained Hadfield, until the human body and brain get accustomed to the lack of gravity.
What happens to your body after being in space so long?- Tobias Tiori from Halifax, 11 years old.
Tobias Tiori asked what happens to the body when it's in space for a prolonged period of time.
Over the course of three missions, Hadfield has spent a total of 166 days in space.
It's taken a toll on his body.
He estimated that a trip from Earth to Mars with a modern rocket would take about six months to complete, and that a traveller's body would be heavily "degraded" when the journey was over.
"Your muscles would have sort of gone flabby and wasted away. And even your bones would have sort of been reabsorbed partially into your body," he explained.
He said astronauts exercise a few hours a day while in space to keep their bodies in the best possible shape, so "you're not a jellyfish" when you return to Earth.
"We've had a couple astronauts, after they've been in space for six months they landed, and in the first month they just fell ... and their hip bone broke. Because their bones are so much more fragile."
What is it like sleeping in space?- Eddie Surman from Edmonton, six years old.
Eddie Surman asked about the critical issue of sleep.
The International Space Station travels around the planet at about 7.66 kilometres per second, making a full orbit about every 90 minutes.
That means an astronaut will see a sunrise and sunset every 45 minutes.
"Maybe the first question is, when do you sleep in space?" Hadfield told Eddie.
Astronauts aboard the ISS sleep according to Greenwich or Universal Standard Time. They put on pyjamas, cover up the windows, and slip into a sleeping bag secured to the wall by a thread.
"The next time you're in a swimming pool, Eddie, relax every muscle and see what posture, what position your body goes to. And then you just float to sleep," said Hadfield.
"It's the best sleep ever."
Written by Jonathan Ore. Interview produced by Richard Raycraft.