Life in Space

Can you imagine what is like to be an astronaut on the International Space Station, the ISS? 

Find out how the astronauts wash, eat, exercise, work and sleep during their six-month mission.

THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
Launched: 1998
Lenght: 72,8 m - Width: 108,5m - Height: 20m
Distance from Earth: 416 km
Orbits the Eart: 15,54 times per day
Function: Scientific laboratory



Morning Routine

PERSONAL HYGIENE
Astronauts have to adapt to a different personal hygiene routine in space: without gravity, taking a shower is not an option! Astronauts wash with a pre-mixed solution of soap and water and use a flannel. They use no-rinse shampoo for their hair, and they spit their toothpaste into a towel. This hygiene routine guarantees that there are no smelly astronauts on the ISS!

COSMIC CLOTHING
Astronauts have their white spacesuits for spacewalks, but on the ISS they dress in casual trousers and T-shirts. They can't wash their clothes and they only have a limited supply, so the astronauts wear their clothes for as long as possible - a T-shirt usaully lasts 10 days! Luckily the environment is more sterilie in space than on Earth, so their clothes don't get dirty as quickly!

 

ESSENTIAL EXERCISE
Exercising is the priority on the ISS. Astronauts exercise for two and a half hours per day to stay strong - in space they float, so their bones and leg muscles get weak. Also, exercise helps circulation: without the effects of gravity, the body fluids move to the head and can make the astronauts faint. They exercise with a cycle machine, a treadmill and a special weight-lifting machine. There is no point in lifting machine. There is no point in lifting 100 kg in space - without gravity that's too easy!


Eating

LUNAR LUNCHES
Special containers of food are sent from Earth to the astronauts.
Red containers for Russian food; blue containers for American and European food! Some of  the meals are ready to eat, but sometimes the astronauts have to add water or heat them. The astronauts enjoy mealtimes, which are a social occasion... even if they eat from plastic sachets using magnetized forks and knives! They drink liquids form a pouch with a straw, and there's no salt or pepper - it could fly up their eyes!


Working

WORKING IN MICROGRAVITY
The astronauts are top scientists: they conduct around 150 experiments during their six-month mission. During the first missions, astronauts observed Earth from space. Today, in addition to physics projects, they also do experiments on plants and even on themselves: they observe how their bodies are adjusting to living in space for long periods of time. They also have to check the equipment on the ISS: the space station is their home and workplace and they must look after it!





Sleeping 

SLEEPING IN SPACE
Astronauts have to attach themselves at night so that they don't about and bump into things. They take eight hours of rest in small, individual cabins where they sleep in a sleeping bag.
New arrivals find it difficult ot sleep due to the excitement of being in space and motion sickness, but once dreams and nightmares. They even snore... just like at home on Earth!

EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL EXCREMENT ;-)
Going to the toilet on the ISS is more complex than on  Earth - no one wants pee and poo flying around! Astronauts sit on the toilet and use leg restraints to stay in place. They have to aim  their poo at a small hole. Each astronaut has a personal urine funnel for pee. Suction ensures that the waste is removed.

Writing 8

A happy ending

Three years ago my family moved to Australia because of work. It was a really big change in my life, and as I was a teenager I was reveal against my parents and the rest of the people who tried to help me. I failed exams and my bad behavior made teachers get mad at me, I didn't want to make new friends so I got to spend a lot of time alone watching TV and doing nothing.

Everything changed for me the day I met my best friend, Paul. He was in the same situation as me but with a little difference: he wanted to rebuild his life in Australia. He spoke catalan, like me, so at first I was the only one that could help him as he didn't know any English, so that've made me get involved in the situation. I realised how easy things were if one is able to rebuild his life, and I just tried it too.

These days, I feel much happier and comfortable. Helping Paul made me feel more useful and sociable. Since I started helping I've sing up at many volunteer programs like the welkoming school crew.

Writing 7

An opinion essay

The governement plans to introduce a new law in order to improve the level of education shich will mean that all of us will have to go to school on Saturday mornings. In my point of view, this would have some negative consequences.

In the first place, I believe that students have the right to enjoy some free time during two of the seven days of the week. Also they need time to set their heads and try to understant what they did in class.

If the gobernment wants to improve the level, they could add an extra school hour every day, and not invade Saturdays morning time.

The New York Times

In German Town, Crushing Grief at Losing 16 Students and 2 Teachers in Jet Crash

Last 24th of March a plane from Germanwings felt off while it was flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf.The accident took place in the french Alps mountains, and no survivors were found, neither big pieces of the plane. 
150 passengers were flying in the flight 9525, including a group of  sixteen 10th grade students (ESO 4). When I listened that I got shocked, I couldn't avoid feel so empathetic because that could have happened to us. It's like lottery, you never chose it, you never expect it.
The link (tittle) brings you to an article from the New York Times which talks about how the school lived the situation.

Liam Hemsworth

Thanks to the Hunger Games films, LIam Hemsworth is now a big star. But Liam's family have also influenced his career...

Love before Hunger Games
Two years before Liam appeared in the first Hunger Games film, he was in The Las Song with Miley Cyrus. Liam and Miley's characters fall in love in the film, and the actors fell in love in real life too. Liam and Miley were a star couple until they separeted in 2003.







Work and play
You'll see Liam dressed in armour everywhere this month, to promote the third Hunger Games film, Mockingjay.
Liam adored making the film. The atmosphere on the film set was like being back in high school.
The actors had so much fun that, some days, it was impossible to do any work!


A big challenge
Hollllywood directors noticed Liam when he was Miley's boyfriend. He got offered the role of a lifetime: Gale Hawthore, Katniss' best friend, in The Hunger Games.
Suddenly, Liam became the idol of millions of fans. But he was faced with a challenge: playing Gale as readers had imagined him.


An Aussie accent
Gale is not Australian in the books, but Liam is from Melbourne, Australia, and has spent most of his life there. Before moving to the USA to get film roles, he appeared in some TV series. Liam's accent was fine for Australian TV, but he had to change it to play a citizen of Panem! It was not easy!


Brothers and rivals
Liam is the baby of the Hemsworth family. He has two elder brothers, Chris and Luke, and all three brothers are actors. Liam says that without them he wouldn't be an actor today. But, he also admits that there's rivalry in the family and, at times, this competition is difficult. For example, before Liam's Hunger Games succes, he auditioned to play Thor in the film Thor... but his brother Chris got the role!

A great future
There's a final instalment of the saga in 2015, before Liam says goodbye to Gale for ever. But with his fantastic CV, he's sure to continue being succesful. Liam is ready for new battles... the only danger is competition from his brothers!

7. A short story: a surprise party

When I turned 15th my friends prepared me a surprise birthday party, and I had no idea about it.

The day before my 15th birthday I went to have lunch at my friend's house, and suddenly, when I finished eating, my mum called me to tell me that they were driving to Girona for some important shopping but she'd forgotten to give me keys and there wasn't anybody who could bring them to me. I got angry with her because that weekend I had a lot of school work. At about 6 o'clock my mum sent me a message saying that they were already at home, and when I arrived everything was full of balloons, food, "happy birthday" decorations, etc. My parents told me that I had an hour to get ready. When I came downstairs after an hour, all my friends were there singing "Happy birthday".

6. Last weekend

Last weekend I went to the city to visit my family.

We arrived to Madrid on Friday late night so we just went to bed as soon as we could.

On Saturday we had a big family dinner with all my cousins at my grandparents house and we spent all the day together.

On Sunday my aunt wanted to guide us through Madrid so that's what we did!