Nausea and recycled fluids: life on the International Space Station

Now he's safely aboard his new home, what will life be like for Tim Peake over the next six months as he orbits the Earth?

Every 45 minutes Major Tim Peake will see a sunrise, or a sunset, regular as clockwork. At 17,500 miles an hour, he will orbit the earth 16 times a day. His new home is at one and the same time an office, workshop, gymnasium, laboratory, mess deck and dormitory, connected by cylindrical corridors and he will commute to work each day effortlessly, floating in microgravity. One of the most demanding things he will have to do is exercise to keep his muscle tissue working at all: most of us are not aware of this, but the tug of gravity keeps even the idlest of earthbound humans moderately fit. Astronauts have to exercise hard, but after months in microgravity most of them have difficulty even standing up once they return to Earth.

Major Peake will gain in stature, and not just because of his elevated position: astronauts get a chance to walk tall in orbit. Most human beings get out of bed slightly taller than when they retired, slightly crushed by gravity's remorseless tug. Astronauts stay at their full height all the time and don't use a bed.