[Moonbase-discuss] Re: Taste & scent in 0-G

[Samuel Coniglio]

Thanks Randall.  I was looking in Albert Harrison's book 
"SpaceFaring:  The Human Dimension" for a specific reference, but 
could not find the page.

Things taste different up there, so the cuisine needs to be enhanced 
to make it flavorful and and enjoyable.  Hmm, can you say Jalapeno 
peppers?  :-)

Check out this recent article on noise pollution on the ISS.  It is 
one of the biggest concerns today:

<<http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000D2553-7540-1D06-8E4980 
9EC588EEDF&catID=2>http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000D2553 
-7540-1D06-8E49809EC588EEDF&catID=2>

Before the Russians would approve doing a commercial for Radio Shack 
last year, they had to examine the components of the talking picture 
frame and the plastic bag that was in the commercial. Their concern 
was the fumes from the plastic.  Fumes have no place to go on ISS, 
and a toxic build up  is always a danger.

These examples justify more research on human factors and creature 
comforts for the ISS and not just a space hotel.  There are a lot of 
creative folks in the Bay Area, and I want to get  them excited about 
helping make space travel humane and comfortable.  Oh, and a lot of 
fun, too.

When is Moonbase going to do another seminar series?  I would like to 
do a presentation on space tourism.  I may also get Albert Harrison 
to come down from UC Davis to give his psychological and sociological 
perspective.



Sam


At 2:13 PM -0700 6/22/02, Randall Clague wrote:
>On Wed, 19 Jun 2002 16:14:49 -0400, JonAlexandr@aol.com wrote:
>
>>What references do you have about taste and smell being "different" 
>>in 0-G?  I'm skeptical
>>about the 'blood circulation' comments you make.  I doubt our 
>>senses of taste and smell
>>function differently in 0-G.  I've never read of any astronauts 
>>making such a comment.
>>At best, it would seem to be a contextual difference, not a 
>>physiological one.
>
>It's true enough.  I've heard it for years, mostly from astronauts.
>The early astronauts routinely lost weight on missions.  Part of that
>was that they were too busy to eat, but another part was that they
>couldn't work up much interest in the food, because it was so
>tasteless.  NASA works around the problem on Shuttle and Station by
>putting a lot of spices and other distinct flavors in the food, and
>encouraging astronauts to include their favorite spices in their
>personal allowance.  I don't know how the Russians deal with the
>problem.
>
>I don't know the explanation, but it probably has something to do with
>blood pooling in the chest and head.  This leads to, among other
>things, nasal and sinus congestion, which is probably the
>de-sensitizing mechanism.  There's got to be more to it than that,
>though; if sinus congestion was the sole mechanism, Sudafed would
>restore the sense of taste, and I haven't heard of any solution, much
>less one as simple as an OTC med.
>
>A bigger concern for me is noise pollution.  Alpha is very noisy, from
>all the fans - about like a freeway shoulder, IIRC.  The Russian
>stations were just as bad in a different way; they were controlled
>from the ground, and the controllers had the (perfectly sensible, from
>their perspective) habit of doing station-keeping maneuvers during the
>cosmonauts' sleep period.  Those thrusters are loud.
>
>A poor sense of smell could be a good thing in an early space camp -
>it would probably stink of plastic and lubricant.  A poor sense of
>taste would go along with a poor sense of smell.  But having no peace
>and quiet can make it hard to think, let alone sleep - both essential
>for long term success.
>
>-R
>
>--
>"Sutton is the beginning of wisdom -
>but only the beginning."
>                      -- Jeff Greason
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