35 Interesting Facts about Astronauts in Space

In 1971, David Scott smuggled a 'Fallen Astronaut' sculpture onto the Apollo 15 lunar mission and placed it on the Moon's surface to "commemorate the astronauts and cosmonauts who have died in the advancement of space exploration."

27. In 1967, a Soviet Cosmonaut named Vladimir Komarov, knew he was doomed before he reentered, and spent his final minutes crying in rage.

28. Astronauts discard their clothes after each use. Since it costs about $10,000 to get one pound of cargo to the ISS it is more cost-effective for them to discard their clothes when they get dirty instead of wasting water by washing them.

29. The Apollo astronauts left behind 96 bags of urine, feces, and vomit on the moon. The bags were left behind to make room for lunar dust and rocks the astronauts brought home to Earth.

30. The first "emergency" aboard Apollo 13 was when astronaut John Swigert radioed Huston because he had forgotten to file his income taxes. Flight Director Glynn Lunney assured that Americans out of the country got a 60-day extension on filing.

Astronaut David Scott dropped a hammer and a feather on the moon, repeating Galileo's gravity experiment.

32. Astronaut Sunita Williams was the first person to run a marathon in space, finishing in 4 hours and 24 minutes on a treadmill aboard the International Space Station.

33. Astronauts can't cry in space because of the weightless environment. The tears just collect in little balls and sting your eyes.

34. An astronaut named Jerome Apt once punctured his spacesuit while on a spacewalk and didn't even notice. When a metal bar punctured the glove, the skin of the astronaut’s hand partially sealed the opening. He bled into space, and at the same time his coagulating blood sealed the opening enough that the bar was retained inside the hole.

35. Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano during his 6-hour spacewalk on the International Space Station nearly became the first man to drown in space when his helmet began to inexplicably fill with water. He only survived by thinking quickly and not panicking.