Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield made history earlier this year as the first Canadian to command the ISS (expedition 35) and walk in space but what most probably know him for are his educational space videos, giving viewers a glimpse of how extraordinary ordinary things are in zero gravity. Using the Canadian Space Agency's YouTube page as his connection to the rest of the world, Hadfield shows us just how different his life on a spaceship is on a daily basis. Imgur user TozzaG created gifs from Hadfield's videos to offer a quick visual idea of zero gravity.
From washing your hands to getting a haircut, everything is done differently. Food comes in bags or cans (and can be found floating in their containers) and crying can be a surreal experience when the tears don't fall but, rather, pool on your face. Even when you're feeling ill, you can't get sick into any old barf bag. There are specially designed bags to keep the vomit contained. Similarly, Hadfield had to use a custom hair clipper attached to a vacuum to suck up all the hairs, in a precautionary effort to prevent the tiny follicles from floating away.
If there's one thing to take away from Hadfield's educational videos, it's that nothing moves the way that you'd expect it to and just about anything can float away. (If you've ever seen the episode of The Simpsons where Homer goes to space, you know exactly what I'm talking about.)
Wringing out a soaked washcloth doesn't really do much.
When making sandwiches, astronauts use tortillas instead of bread because tortillas don't create crumbs.
You have to be careful when you open a can of mixed nuts in space.
There's pretty much only one option for haircuts in space, and there's a specially designed hair clipper on the ISS attached to a vacuum to keep hair from floating away.
Desserts in space mostly come in pudding form packed in pouches, like this chocolate pudding cake.
Washing your hands without a sink requires a pre-packaged pouch of soapy water that you just squirt out and rub on your hands.
Astronauts have specially designed barf bags to keep vomit totally contained when they get sick.
You can't use any water when shaving, so astronauts use a specially designed shaving cream that helps keep the whiskers from floating away.
When you brush your teeth in space, the only way to get rid of the toothpaste when you're finished is to swallow it.
You shouldn't cry in space because your tears just hang out on your face.
When you clip your nails in space, you have to do it right over an air duct to keep the clipped nails from flying all over the place.
Sleeping in space requires special tethered sleeping bags in little sleeping compartments so you don't float all over the place.
