Short Wave - How To Get A Haircut In Space

Episode Date: September 21, 2024

Hey, Short Wavers! Today we're sharing an excerpt of the new NPR podcast How To Do Everything. How To Do Everything is half advice show, half survival guide, and half absurdity-fest — and it's not made by anyone who understands math. In fact, it comes from the same team that brings you NPR's news quiz Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me!We think you'll like their vibe, and we especially think you'll like this excerpt from their recent episode. It features astronaut Frank Rubio, who holds the record for the longest time spent in space. How To Do Everything hosts Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag ask what advice he has for two NASA astronauts whose mission to the International Space Station was recently extended by ... a lot of time. Listen to find out how astronauts do laundry in space, get a haircut and blow out birthday candles. For more episodes of How To Do Everything, follow the show on Apple or Spotify.How To Do Everything is available without sponsor messages for supporters of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me+, who also get bonus episodes of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me featuring exclusive games, behind-the-scenes content, and more. Sign up and support NPR at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey, Shortwaiver is Regina Barbara here with something fun to share today. It's an excerpt of the new NPR podcast called How to Do Everything. It comes from the same team that brings you NPR's news quiz show. Wait, wait, don't tell me. And they told me how to do everything is half advice show, half survival guide, and half absurdity fest. Which is why I say lovingly, it's not made by anyone who understands math.

Still, we think you like their vibe, and we especially like this excerpt from their recent episode featuring astronaut Frank Rubio, who holds the record for the longest time spent in space. You're going to hear how to do everything hosts Mike Danforth and Ian Chilog. Ask Rubio what advice he has for two NASA astronauts whose mission to the International Space Station was recently extended by a lot of time. You'll also find out how to do laundry in space, get a haircut, and blow out birthday candles. Enjoy. This is How to Do Everything. I'm Mike.

And I'm Ian. On today's show, when astronauts Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore arrived on the International Space Station back in June, they were only supposed to be there for eight days. But due to some problems, you may have heard, with their spaceship, they're going to be there much, much longer. NASA announced they won't be coming home until February 2025. Frank Rubio holds the record for the longest time in space. 371 days. We're going to see if maybe he can help Sonny and Butch out. They probably, for instance, weren't counting on needing a haircut up there. Frank, for starters, how do you get a haircut in space? You know, we plan for everything, right? And so for cutting your

hair, we actually have a pair of electrical shears, and we connect that to a vacuum system. And basically the vacuum just sections up the hair as you're cutting it. It's not a pretty haircut, for sure, but it's functional. I say that my hair, my wife and I have this ongoing argument. I say I was starting to get some gray hair before I launched, and it all turned black again when I got there. I think that's because of the fluid shifts

that happened in the increased blood flow to your scalp. That's my theory. I don't know if I'll ever be able to prove it. That's amazing. I would think you're wearing NASA gear up there the whole time. I imagine for 371 days, you want to do something to maybe spruce up the outfit just for variety? Well, we do get a variety of shirts, t-shirts, workout gear.

And unfortunately, we haven't developed the laundry system in space yet. And so we have a periodic replacement system basically where you just fly new things. And as things kind of come to their wearout date, you just replace it with another one. What do you do with the dirty clothes? Yeah, so eventually, along with all the other waste, we basically refurb. fill the resupply ships with all the trash and waste that's produced on station. And then once that un-docs, it does not have a heat shield. And it'll burn up on re-entry. Fantastic. You incinerate your dirty laundry. Well, yes. Do you still do that today, Frank, now that you're

back on Earth? No, I have never incinerated laundry here on Earth. Okay. At 371 days, you must have spent a birthday in space. I imagine it's a huge hazard to blow out candles. What is a, what's a birthday party like in space? Yeah, your crewmates do a fantastic job of doing things like celebrating your birthday. We basically put some yellow tape on top of a flashlight, and that becomes your candle. And so turning it, turning it off is a lot easier than blowing it out. But it is really important to just be each other's family while you're there. And so we try to do that for each other throughout the year. So we have a couple astronauts who are going to be in space longer than they want to be. They're not going to have laundry. They're not going to miss, they're going to miss haircuts.

What's one tip you would give them? Well, you know, they are trained astronauts and they're experienced astronauts. So they've been there and done that, right? And so from that perspective, it's nothing new to them. And they're doing really the one tip I would give them, they're already doing, which is just stay as positive as possible and focus on the mission. Super proud of them, super proud of how they're handling the situation. And I can't wait to have them back home. Maybe you're stuck in space. If so, send us a question.

Send it to us at how to at npr.org. And maybe we can help you out. If you're stuck in space and we're the best you've got, things are not looking good, but we're still going to try our best. Again, that email address where you can send us an email is how to at npr. That was an excerpt of how to do everything. Thanks for listening and for more How to Do Everything. Check out the links in our episode notes.

And see you Monday. For more of our regularly scheduled shortwave goodness.