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Friday, 29 March 2024

An astronaut's survival guide to social-distancing

Duration: 01:37s 0 shares 1 views

An astronaut's survival guide to social-distancing
An astronaut's survival guide to social-distancing

Stick to routines, stay connected with family and sneak away to recharge every day - those are some of the tips NASA astronaut Nick Hague gave for surviving the coronavirus crisis, which he said was much like time in orbit.

This report produced by Jillian Kitchener.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague spent 204 days on the International Space Station, orbiting the Earth more than 3000 times… before returning to the United States late last year.

Now - with gravity on his side - he’s at home with his family in Houston, Texas.

He says some of the habits that helped him cope with extreme social distancing in space are coming in handy - on earth.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) NASA ASTRONAUT NICK HAGUE, ON SIMILARITIES BETWEEN LIVING IN THE ISS AND CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN: “…But it's simple stuff.

It's have a routine, you know, put a schedule together and stick to the schedule, because then everybody inside the house knows what to expect throughout the day.

And just having some control and some certainty over how your day is going to play out is a huge psychological boost.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) NASA ASTRONAUT NICK HAGUE, SAYING: "Some of it's some of it's trying to figure out how to take care of yourself.

You know, what allows me to recharge so that I'm ready for everything that life's going to throw at me?

So some of that is me trying this for me personally is trying to escape what's going on with everything around me.

So watching a movie to take my mind off of it so that I can recharge mentally, some of it is just connecting, you know, reaching out and doing a video call with family and friends or working on a project.

You know, when I was on orbit, I do crossword puzzles with my boys over a video chat." Hague says his personal living quarters on the International Space Station was about the size of a closet.

And while his Texas home is larger, by far - he’s still using those tricks of the trade to get through this unprecedented time on earth.

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