Buzz
Astronauts are the epitome of cool. Becoming one is the dream of countless children. Those who achieve this dream can affirm—it’s an experience like no other. As one of the few humans ever to journey beyond Earth, drifting through space and gazing back at our fragile planet is an awe-inspiring sight that can’t be matched.
However, the journey isn’t all glamour. Astronauts endure bouts of nausea and are constantly surrounded by the remnants of their own shed skin.
While space exploration is full of wonder, it’s also fraught with discomfort and risk. Alan Shepard, the first American in space, endured an entire mission with soggy undergarments. Over six decades later, little has changed. Every iconic ‘one small step for man’ is taken by a weary, irradiated individual teetering on the edge of madness, with only a thin layer of technology keeping them from spiraling into chaos.
With all that in mind, let’s take a look at ten of the toughest aspects of being an astronaut.
10. The Training is a Grueling Challenge
Millions of kids dream of becoming astronauts, but the reality is harsh: fewer than 1% of applicants make the cut. To even apply, you typically need an advanced science degree and outstanding military service. In essence, that 1% is selected from the elite top 1%.
If you’re one of the fortunate few, the training process is extremely demanding. One of the key exercises involves spending long hours submerged in a massive pool, practicing vital tasks to maintain a space station. Another test has you swimming laps while wearing a cumbersome 200+ pound NASA flight suit. Yet another infamous training exercise involves flying in the Vomit Comet, a plane that simulates zero gravity with parabolic arcs—50 times per session, often earning its nickname.
9. Be Prepared for Motion Sickness and Vomiting
On the topic of nausea: space is a tough environment for your stomach. The lack of gravity disrupts your vestibular system, which is responsible for your sense of balance. When the inner ear’s sense of movement doesn’t align with what your eyes are seeing, it triggers motion sickness, which—unfortunately—often leads to vomiting.
Although astronauts typically adapt to motion sickness, known as Space Adaptation Syndrome, within a few days, other persistent issues keep nausea a constant concern. For example, both shuttles and space stations have an infamous reputation for unpleasant odors. As astronaut Chris Hadfield famously said, 'The toilet is right there in the middle of everything. You have up to seven people, and it’s a tiny little ship. It’s like seven people in a camper van with a porta-potty for two weeks, where you can never get out.'
8. Your Skin Will Start to Shed
When asked about the most disturbing aspect of life in space, ESA astronaut Tim Peake replied, 'watching the soles of your feet disintegrate.' Since astronauts rarely use the bottoms of their feet—only when exercising—the soles become softer and softer until they resemble those of a newborn baby.
To soften, the feet must shed the tough, calloused skin that has built up over a lifetime of walking. The skin comes off in small flakes and clumps. After a few weeks, astronauts need to handle their socks carefully to avoid releasing 'a shower of dead skin flakes into the cabin.'
7. Expect to Lose Your Sanity a Little
When the 2020 pandemic began and many people experienced extended isolation for the first time, astronauts were asked how they managed their frequent isolation. The answer? By working hard every day.
Astronauts often report struggling with poor sleep (see below), isolation, loneliness, depression, anxiety, stress, fatigue, mood swings (also known as emotional lability), difficulty concentrating, and even PTSD. It’s incredibly tough to spend a full day working where even the smallest mistake could be fatal, then go to sleep alone, unable to rest, and repeat the cycle, sometimes hundreds of times.
6. You Might Lose Your Hearing
'Wait, that’s impossible,' you might say. 'Space is a vacuum, there’s no sound.' While that’s true for the vast emptiness of space, it doesn’t apply inside shuttles or space stations. These environments are actually surprisingly noisy, and the sounds can be loud enough to damage astronauts' hearing.
Space stations like the ISS are filled with a constant hum of mechanical and digital components vibrating and whirring. Even the living areas on the ISS, far from the scientific equipment at the heart of the station, can reach noise levels of up to 75 decibels. The CDC warns that exposure to noise over 70 dB for extended periods can cause hearing damage. In fact, NASA astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev both experienced hearing loss after their 2006 mission aboard the ISS.
5. Sleep Is a Struggle
After a demanding ‘day’ filled with calculations, engineering tasks, and scientific experiments, you might think astronauts could finally look forward to a peaceful ‘night’ of rest. Unfortunately, a range of factors make that nearly impossible.
For one, there’s the ever-present noise. Then, astronauts experience strange flashes of light even with their eyes shut, likely caused by cosmic rays passing through their eyelids. Additionally, they’re often subjected to numerous sunrises and sunsets, sometimes as many as 16 in a single day. And of course, the lack of gravity forces astronauts to secure themselves to a wall just to prevent floating around their cabin.
4. The Ever-Present Radiation
On Earth, our atmosphere and magnetic field work together to protect us from the majority of cosmic radiation. In space, however, astronauts spend their entire time outside of these protective layers, leaving them exposed to continuous cosmic radiation—comparable to the exposure experienced by survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Astronauts can be exposed to up to 2,000 millisieverts of radiation (a unit that measures biological damage from ionizing radiation) due to constant exposure to high-energy protons and ions. These levels are comparable to the radiation experienced by survivors of atomic bomb blasts. Research has indicated a strong connection between this radiation and various types of leukemia and lymphoma. NASA has been continuously reassessing strategies to minimize exposure, including reducing the duration of ISS missions for astronauts at higher risk.
3. Going to the Bathroom is the Most Miserable Part
While it may not compare to the risk of leukemia or blood clots, astronauts often agree that using the bathroom is the worst part of living in space.
Peggy Whitson, known for holding numerous NASA records, including the most time spent in space, once stated that using the bathroom was her least favorite aspect of life in space. Peeing, the 'easier' of the two tasks, involves a machine that sucks the urine from the body and turns it into drinkable water.
Pooping, on the other hand, is much worse. It requires filling a makeshift porta-potty, and as Whitson recalled, 'you have to put a rubber glove on and pack it down.' However, due to low gravity, some pieces escape the pit and float freely in the station. Then, the astronauts—our best and brightest—must play a game of ‘catch the floating turd.’
2. No, Seriously, Gravity is Crucial
It’s not just the superficial effects—your body really relies on gravity. The loss of gravity doesn’t just cause cosmetic changes, but also leads to serious health problems affecting your muscles, blood, and bones.
Without gravity, blood flow becomes erratic and can even flow backward at times. While this usually causes puffy, red faces and weakened legs, it has also caused blood clots in the jugular veins twice, which could have been fatal. Additionally, muscles suffer from both poor circulation and lack of use.
Astronauts must exercise constantly to prevent muscle atrophy and, even then, they go through one to two months of reconditioning upon their return. The same goes for bones, which depend on gravity, as astronauts are more likely to develop osteoporosis during their time in space.
1. Your Body Cannot Do Without Gravity
The absence of gravity—or the low gravity in space—brings its own set of problems: motion sickness, loss of skin, sleep disruptions, and many more challenges.
For one, gravity helps keep your stomach contents settled and allows gases to rise. Without gravity, burping becomes impossible, and your stomach turns into a giant acid-filled balloon. Additionally, gravity plays a role in your height by compressing your spine. In space, without this compression, astronauts actually grow taller as their spines stretch out within just a few hours. Once back on Earth, their spine quickly re-compresses.
As Korean astronaut Soyeon Yi explained, 'Both experiences were super painful. I gained an inch in space in just three hours, and shrank back down in the same short period of time. My back pain was unbelievably severe.'
