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International Space Station astronauts share the wonders and weirdness of life in orbit

February 18, 2023
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Earlier this week, as one unidentified object after another was spotted over North America, US officials refused to rule out the possibility that they could be alien spacecraft.

It was later confirmed they weren’t – and hopefully if potential life from another planet ever is spotted in our atmosphere we won’t immediately shoot it down – but the incident threw the age-old question of ‘is anybody out there?’ back into focus.

Of course, there is life in space already.

At this very moment, seven humans are on board the International Space Station, orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at around 17,500 miles per hour – or five miles per second.

Living and working together 24/7, the team – from the US, Russia, Kazakhstan and Japan – are conducting a range of scientific experiments and carrying out maintenance on the station, including upgrades to the bathroom. The results might not be Insta-worthy, but it’s something you definitely don’t want breaking down in microgravity when you’re 260 miles above the nearest B&Q.

Experiments include how blood pressure and the cardiovascular system are affected by weightlessness, how the digestive system behaves after eating a meal in microgravity and the effects of growing plants in space – both in terms of benefits for yields back on Earth, and to help cultivate crops on the Moon and Mars.

And that’s just inside the ISS. Earlier this month Nicole Mann and Koichi Wakata completed their second spacewalk, spending six hours and 41 minutes building additions and improvements to the station’s solar power capabilities. It was the 259th space walk in the station’s history.

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The pair, alongside crewmates Frank Rubio, Josh Cassada, Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin and Anna Kikina, have been documenting their mission, recording life in space for those of us back on Earth – including how to water plants and wash your hair in microgravity.


Koichi Wakata during a spacewalk
Expedition 68 flight engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) outside the ISS and 260 miles above Earth in his spacesuit – or extravehicular mobility unit. He and Nasa astronaut Nicole Mann installed infrastructure that will allow installation of another solar array to generate power for the station (Picture: Nasa)

The moon as seen from the ISS while passing over eastern China
The moon as seen from the ISS while passing over eastern China near the Yellow Sea coast on Thursday, February 2. It is described as a waxing gibbous moon, gibbous meaning the phase between a half moon and full moon, and waxing meaning it is getting bigger. After a full moon it enters the waning gibbous phase (Picture: Nasa)

Nicole Mann takes a 'space selfie'
Nicole Mann takes a ‘space selfie’ during her six hour and 41 minute spacewalk outside the ISS. Mann, a colonel in the Marines and a former test pilot, is the first indigenous woman from Nasa to go into space. She is registered with the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes (Picture: Nasa)

The Himalayas as seen from the ISS over central China
The Himalayas as seen from the ISS over central China. The range contains nine of the world’s ten highest mountains, including Mount Everest. Stretching across Nepal, Bhutan, northeast India, southeast Tibet and northern Myanmar, it is often referred to as the ‘Third Pole’ due to the volume of snow and ice covering its peaks, the source of major rivers across Asia (Picture: Nasa)

Koichi Wakata is seen traversing the exterior of the ISS
Koichi Wakata is seen traversing the exterior of the ISS – while travelling at 17,500 miles an hour. The mission is Wakata’s seventh journey into space and his third long-duration stay on the ISS. He was also part of three missions to build the ISS, which was completed in 2011. However, it has been continuously manned since 2000 (Picture: Nasa)

The Progress 81 resupply ship heads back to Earth after undocking from the ISS
The Progress 81 resupply ship heads back to Earth after undocking from the ISS. Pictured here 266 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Kuril Islands, Progress 81 was launched by Russia from Kazakhstan on June 3 last year. It delivered 2,518kgs of cargo including food, clothing and 420kgs of water. Russia remains a key player in the ISS following its invasion of Ukraine last February, but some of its space partnerships have ended. Progress 81 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean for a ‘safe demise’ (Picture: Nasa)

Flight engineer Josh Cassada uses a syringe to water tomato plants
Flight engineer Josh Cassada uses a syringe to water tomato plants growing inside the Veggie Space Botany Facility inside the Columbus laboratory module. A former US Navy test pilot, Nasa astronaut Cassada’s training for the mission included robotics, Russian and wilderness survival (Picture: Nasa)

An orbital sunrise
An orbital sunrise. The ISS circumnavigates the Earth once every 90 minutes from a height of around 260 miles, meaning astronauts on board enjoy 16 dawns every day as they emerge from our planet’s shadow. This particular orbital sunrise was captured above the south Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina on Wednesday, February 6 (Picture: Nasa)

The Amur River, which forms the border between northeastern China and southeastern Russia
The Amur River forms the border between northeastern China and southeastern Russia. Seen here completely frozen over on Wednesday, February 8, the river itself stretches for more than 1,700 miles and is fed by around 200 tributaries. In China it is known as the Heilong, and the wider basin is home to endangered tigers among myriad other species (Picture: Nasa)

Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina
Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina practises robotic arm maneuvering techniques from inside the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. The mission is Kikina’s first in space (Picture: Roscosmos)

Uninhabited atolls in French Polynesia
While passing over the south Pacific the ISS captured this stunning shot of (from left) Maturei Vavao, Vahanga, Tenarungo and Tenanaro, uninhabited atolls in French Polynesia. The country is comprised of 118 individual islands and atolls spread across an area roughly the size of Europe – however, its combined land mass is only about 1,400 square miles, and home to around 280,000 people (Picture: Nasa)

Nasa astronaut Frank Rubio
Nasa astronaut Frank Rubio at work inside the Destiny laboratory module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox, investigating how particles organise themselves in fluids – possibly advancing manufacturing techniques and providing new insights on astrophysics. A doctor and former Blackhawk helicopter pilot, Rubio is completing his first space mission (Picture: Nasa)

Roscosmos cosmonaut and Expedition 68 commander Sergey Prokopyev
Roscosmos cosmonaut and Expedition 68 commander Sergey Prokopyev carries out vital maintenance on the space station’s plumbing. Prokopyev previously spent more than six months on board the ISS in 2018, completing two spacewalks (Picture: Roscosmos)

Mexico's Isla Pérez
Mexico’s Isla Pérez lies north of the Yucatan Peninsula, near the Chicxulub crater – the site where the meteor which is widely believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs struck Earth more than 66 million years ago. More recently, the island was the site of numerous shipwrecks, prompting Lloyd’s of London to install a lighthouse on the island in the mid-19th century. To this day the island’s only inhabitants are the lighthouse keeper, a small Mexican Navy platoon, visiting scientists and fishermen and women (Picture: Nasa)

Koichi Wakata demonstrates no-water space hairwashing
Koichi Wakata demonstrates no-water space hair washing. The ISS does not have showers because they would not work in microgravity, and there is limited water on board (Picture: Nasa)

An orbital sunrise over Brazil
An orbital sunrise over Brazil taken on Friday, February 10. The crew of Expedition 68 arrived on the ISS on Saturday, September 29, and will return to Earth in March (Picture: Nasa)



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Welcome to Snapshot, Metro.co.uk’s new picture-led series bringing you the most powerful images and stories of the moment.

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