Getting Sick While in a Spacecraft

Has it ever crossed your mind what would it be like to be sick while in a Spacecraft, suspended in the space thousands of miles away from a doctor who can attend? What kind of ailments could trouble astronauts? Can germs be there in such a sophisticated and controlled environment? Well the answers are yes, Astronauts go get sick while travelling in space and they do face some really troublesome ailments that can make life pretty uncomfortable out there and to make things worse pathogens can "develop thicker cell walls and greater resistance to antimicrobial agents" and also have a greater ability to form so-called biofilms that cling to surface in zero gravity. Quite scary isn’t?

Astronauts face motion sickness and at times it can really be bad. Zero gravity also changes many of the normal bodily functions, one such is to make the fluids of the body float, and this confuses the inner ear and one cannot tell up from down. This is a major reason that causes Space Adaptation syndrome or SAS, a very common illness onboard a spacecraft with is almost like seasickness. It takes Astronauts few days to adjust. They also get cold and sniffle and as sinuses don’t drain in zero gravity so the congestion is much stuffier than what we experience on Earth. The Astronauts also get bumped and bruised while going about their work in the zero gravity work environment.

If there is anything that is too serious than the Astronauts can return back to earth via the Soyuz Spacecraft  that  is always docked at the ISS in case of an emergency.

By: Madhuchanda Saxena

Content: http://mentalfloss.com/article/547736/what-happens-when-astronaut-gets-sick-space