A peep into the life of astronauts

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Why do astronauts float inside the space craft with stretched arms? Well, stretched arms will help you from hitting somewhere and there is no other technique to control your movement, says Marsha Ivins, former NASA astronaut who was in the city to share her experiences in space. Ivins on Friday made a presentation on the job and life of astronauts at an interactive session organised by the Kerala International Centre at YMCA Hall here. ‘’It is the only place you can raise the body of your colleague with a finger, no matter whatever your weight or physique,’’ quipped Ivins. The presentation took the audience through the history of man’s space adventures which began in the latter half of the twentieth century. Still photographs and videos on the earth and other planets, different countries and landmark monuments on the earth were among the attractions of the presentation.  However, most interesting was the portrayal of the life of astronauts. Videos of space crew gulping flying balls of water and eating nuts spread around them made the audience rolling in laughter. Ivins also shared some survival tips of the space crew like putting the weight on your raised toes to stay still at a place and some exercises like full-body spins in space. Ivins, who was part of five space missions, also shared a lesson she learnt in space. ‘From there, I couldn’t see any natural boundaries between countries. Only on earth you get to feel man-made boundaries separating people and nations,’’ she said. Ivins also inaugurated the Kerala chapter of the South Indian American Studies Network (SIASN) at the function. US Consulate staff Anand Krishna and Sreekandan Nair of SIASN spoke at the function.