Yesterday, I finished Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach, possibly not the best choice of audio book for lunchtime listening what with all the minutiae on ingesting and egesting in the emptiness between planets. The parts about how many ways our cobbled together bodies could be spun apart by sheer forces or horribly compressed that I listened to last week are fascinating (I was a tad worried about my heart for a few days, not wanting to jar it too much) and sex is always a perky topic that we want all the gossip on yes please, yes please, yes please, but this week's serving of fecal dust in space capsules, the physics of urinating in zero gravity, and floaties that, well, literally float past working astronauts, might not be deemed palatable dinner topics in some circles.Luckily, 12 years of working in hospitals (not now, but long ago) has forever inured me to such bodily talk (and smells and sounds) so I happily tucked into my lunch as I learned all about fecal popcorning, how to use a space toilet, and what adventurers heading for Mars might find on their menus. Read this book! It’s a funny, informative romp that tackles many racy, behind-the-scenes rumours and slays quite a few mission control myths. The amount of groundwork that goes into catering for the small, everyday stuff of living in space is inspiring, and the sometimes disgusting truth of what astronauts will endure just to get that ride into space is far more admirable than the usual PR choreography of squeaky clean NASA hero shots without all the poo and piss.
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