Ivan Vagner said that in space he misses “simple earthly things and especially the sound of rain”
Cosmonauts are using orange and grapefruit peels to freshen the air in the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS), which helps to lift the spirits of the crew, Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner said in an interview with TASS.
“The air on the ISS is like a room that hasn’t been ventilated for a long time. When I first arrived at the station, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were actually no strong odors. Yes, the air is stale, but in reality it turned out to be much better than I expected. Of course, if you open heated food or canned food, odors appear. In addition, when fresh oranges or grapefruits arrive on the Progress spacecraft, we eat the pulp and deliberately crush the peels so that the essential oils spread throughout the module. The aroma is very pleasant and instantly lifts our spirits,” said Wagner. The Russian cosmonaut added that in space he misses “simple earthly things and especially the sound of rain.” “During the first mission, I was talking to my wife a month after launch, it was May. She said, ‘It’s raining so hard today!’ I immediately heard the sound of raindrops drumming on the roof clearly in my mind. I realized how much I miss such sounds. On the station, there is a constant hum of ventilation systems and the same visual environment, unless you look through the portholes. The brain lacks information, certain stimuli. And when it receives them, very vivid emotions arise,” Wagner shared.
Illustrative Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/gray-and-white-satellite-41006/
