We live in a different world today than we did 40 and 50 years ago thanks to the Space Program. There are a multitude of items that are available to us because of the program that have become so common that some people can't imagine a life without them. I am not talking about the big items like the automobile, electric lights, indoor plumbing or those kinds of things that were developed a century or so ago; I'm talking about the common everyday things like freeze-dried food, athletic shoes,Computer Aided Topography (CAT scans), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI scans), 'Tang' the powdered OJ drink, Betadine, to kill germs, suits to keep you warm in the winter, thermal clothing, cordless power tools, self inflating life rafts, eyglasses that are less likely to be scratched, and the list goes on and on. All these items and more were developed by the space engineers to aid the astronauts and allow them to be comfortable on their flights. Life savers in many instances. They have been incorporated into our everyday lives and make life better for all of us.
When a need becomes a problem for the astronauts the engineers strive to solve the problem. Hence, the announcement the other day that they have been able to build a washer/dryer combo machine that can do both operations in one appliance. The astronauts are required to wear the same clothes for the whole mission. Except they do have to change their unders every few days; they remove them and jettison them out into space.It is rather staggering to think of how many tidy whities are orbiting in the outer spaces. This new appliance can wash the clothes, rince and spin out most of the moisture and then switch to a drying cycle and dry the articles.
We earth bound people have faced dilimmas when we are packing for extended trips abroad. You must face the fact that you will spend most of your time in the same clothes. You cannot take changes for every day of your trip because it would encrease the amount of luggage. That is not too hard to deal with, but it does get a little dicey when you try to figure out your ' unders'. You do have some choices, the travel catelogs have disposable underwear , or you can wash your underwear in the hotel room at night and expect them to dry by morning, or you could 'go commando'. When I was traveling in Ireland, one of the women on the tour bus had her 'still damp' underwear hanging in the window of the bus one day.
Now, to get back to the skivvies that the spacemen are throwing over board. I think eventually they will burn up on entering the Earth's atmosphere. It could well be that those shooting stars that fill the skies in August are actually flaming skivvies. Perhaps that star bright, star light, first star I see at night that I wish on, is a pair of size 34 boxer shorts going down in flames.It gives star gazing a whole new perspective,what if, as the song says, "Stars Fell on Alabama" that could make a rather unsavory mess on your front lawn if you lived in Alabama. I, for one, am glad that the new washer was invented! Not a moment too soon!
Now, I wonder how they manage removing their underwear while wearing those bulky space suits, aren't they pressurized or something? Maybe thinking they are wearing plain ol'boxers or the like is way off the mark. Perhaps they wear diaper type garments and have a trap door in the suits. Maybe I'll quit thinking about this and get on with things! Probably a good idea. I'm just sayin'. Caio
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