Over the moon

NASA astronaut Dr Megan McArthur delivered a public lecture on “life in outer space” at RMIT University’s Kaleide Theatre during National Science Week.

Growing up on air bases as a youngster, Dr McArthur became fascinated with the idea of becoming an astronaut, and in May she made her first shuttle mission to service the Hubble telescope.

She explained her experience on board Space Shuttle Atlantis during the almost 13 days she spent in space.

Dr McArthur showed footage of her mission and talked about the differences in life and work in outer space.

She talked about having dehydrated food and field rations and how astronauts’ diets were overseen by dieticians who recommend they eat plenty of vegies.

Dr McArthur also revealed that astronauts don’t take bread into space.

“We only take tortillas because bread makes too many crumbs and they can get in your eyes and up your nose,” she said.

When asked about readjusting to earth after returning from space, Dr McArthur said that it took a while and she felt a strange sensation when she bent down to pick something up as she thought she was going to keep falling forward.

“You are also dehydrated and aren’t allowed to drive for three days after landing,” she said.

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