Here's Everything We Learned After Talking To Astronauts On The Space Station

"BuzzFeed, this is Mission Control Houston..."

By
Austin Hunt
by Austin Hunt

BuzzFeed News Reporter

and
Michael Rusch
by Michael Rusch

BuzzFeed News Reporter

BuzzFeed News called into the International Space Station to chat with Expedition 43 Commander Terry Virts and Flight Engineer Scott Kelly about their time in space.

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@AstroTerry

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@StationCDRKelly

Here's what we learned...

They actually use the fancy ~space language~ like you see in the movies.

The Space Station has space coffee!

Kelly: "It had a little frothiness on top and everything — it was a real treat."

Virts: "It's been pretty unique to have an espresso machine... That's definitely been a pretty cool first in space."

The Space Station crew has movie nights with their new big-screen projector.

Virts also explained they get episodes of daily news broadcasts to watch and keep up with what's going on back down on planet Earth.

They also get to enjoy sports!

The astronauts said NASA will send games about a day after they happen, or if it's a day game, the Space Station might receive it later that night when they have satellite coverage.

"One of the best ways that I've connected with Earth is watching baseball... On Earth I love keeping track with some of my favorite teams, the Orioles and the Astros," said Virts.

Kelly predicts humans will set foot on Mars within the next two decades.

Do you guys see humans stepping foot on Mars in the next 50 years?

Kelly: "Oh absolutely in the next 50 years. I would like to think it'll be in the next 15 to 20 years."

The Space Station crew exercises more in space than they do on Earth.

Kelly: "In my case, twice a day, six days a week, aerobic exercise and weightlifting."

The crew, Kelly said, uses resistive devices that use air pressure to mimic the feeling of lifting real weights. They also use a combination of treadmill and bicycle to get their cardio in.

Some astronauts come back from space stronger than when they left.

Kelly: "People coming back from longer duration flights on the Space Station generally increase their muscle mass."

The reason for all the exercise? The human body is very smart and tries to get rid of bone mass and muscle mass while floating around without gravity, Kelly said. Astronauts combat those effects by working out, he added.

And last but not least, the crew members LOVE the observation cupola.

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According to NASA, the observation cupola provides the largest set of windows ever flown in space. The windows provide the astronauts with an incredible view of planet Earth, as well as a direct view of the station's robotic operation.

Here's astronaut Terry Virts' top three views of Earth while in the observation copula:

Auroras:

Virts: "You could see this thing dancing around and moving... That was truly amazing."

Sunrises and sunsets:

Coral reefs and coastlines:

Thanks, guys. Good luck up there!

NASA

Here's the full BuzzFeed News interview:

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