MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. Cosmonauts use orange and grapefruit peels to freshen the air in the International Space Station’s (ISS) Russian segment, which helps to lift the crew's spirits, Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner said in an interview with TASS.
"The air on the ISS is like a room that has not been aired out for a long time. When I first arrived at the station, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there were actually no strong odors. Yes, the air is stale, but in reality it turned out much better than I expected. Certainly, if you open heated food or canned goods, smells appear. Moreover, when fresh oranges or grapefruits arrive on the Progress spacecraft, we eat the pulp and deliberately crush the peels, so that the essential oils spread throughout the module. The scent is very pleasant and instantly lifts our spirits," Vagner said.
The Russian cosmonaut added that in space he missed "simple earthly things and especially the sounds of rain." "During the first mission I talked to my wife a month after the launch, it was May. She said, "We had such a heavy rain today!" Immediately, I could clearly hear the sound of the raindrops drumming against the roof in my mind. I realized how much I missed such sounds. There is a permanent hum of ventilation systems and one and the same visual environment on the station, unless you look out of the illuminators. The brain lacks information, certain stimuli. And when it receives them, very vivid emotions arise," Vagner shared.