 We're about to speak with astronauts Tim Peake, Jeff Williams and Tim Kopra aboard the International Space Station to find out what life is like in lower Earth orbit. Please stand by for a voice check from the verge. Station, this is the verge. How do you hear me? We hear you loud and clear. First off, I would love to have you describe your day-to-day routine on the station. You know, what are your hours like? Is it a typical 9-5 gig and what do you spend most of your time working on? You know, it's a great question. You know, and it's an interesting place to both work and live because some aspects of our job are sort of like at home. We have a list of events we have to perform every day, but when you wake up and you get out of your sleeping bag in your crew quarters, you float out, usually float out to the place where we have all our food stowed and get some coffee and some breakfast and then do some cleanup. Originally coffee came in a freeze-dried bag, but recently astronauts were treated to a microgravity espresso machine, which pours coffee into a special zero-g coffee cup. And then the rest of the day is really filled with science experiments, with maintenance so that we can maintain the quality of life that we have up here. The microgravity environment of the space station offers up a lot of opportunity for research and the astronauts are responsible for making sure those experiments run smoothly. That can involve growing human tissues in protein crystals, starting fires, or cultivating produce and plants in the veggie plant growth area. There are very specific skills that we all have to have, even just to be assigned, be able to fly the robotic arm because we have vehicles that come here that we capture and then the ground docks it onto the space station. We have space walks and it's a very challenging task and we have to be proficient in that. Of course, space isn't always the easiest place to live and work. What have been the biggest adjustments both physically and mentally to living in microgravity? It took about 24 hours before I felt actually comfortable because for the first 24 hours there's a lot of dizziness and disorientation just as your vestibular system needs to really shut down and I think your brain tends to then rely just on information coming from the eyes so that you don't feel nauseous. Along with this space adaptation syndrome, astronauts often experience a lot of other health changes while in orbit. People lose bone and muscle mass because they don't have to work against gravity. Astronauts must exercise, such as weight lifting or running on a treadmill, for two and a half hours each day to counteract this problem. And the space environment has some other frustrating side effects too. You know, living in zero gravity is some of the best things about living and some of the most frustrating things about living because you know you can't just put your things out on a table and expect it to be there. You have to be very meticulous about all the things that you have. It has to be in a certain place and you have to remember where you put it because no longer is it just a flat surface in which something can be stowed. It can be stowed on any surface, either with tape or with Velcro and so that becomes a little bit of a challenge until you get used to living in this very unusual environment. Once you get the hang of microgravity, it makes for a great place to show off your skills. As for general human upkeep, the astronauts are deprived of one key earth comfort. Obviously we don't have a shower and that's probably one of the things that most of us most miss while we're up here and look forward to when we get back in the ground. But we still are able to keep very clean, essentially taking sponge baths. We have a toilet that you would recognize as a toilet and it works very well. Wonder how that toilet works? The answer is suction. Astronauts use leg restraints to position themselves over the toilet and then a fan draws out waste and liquid. Each astronaut has their own personal funnel for going number one. But don't worry, the space environment is kept super clean. What's the air like up there? Is there a distinct difference between the environment on the space station and the air here on earth? You know, we get to enjoy pretty good air up here. It's recycled, it's scrubbed from carbon dioxide and other harmful gases. It's a fairly constant humidity and temperature. The one thing that's very different from planet earth is we have about 10 times the CO2 level up here. But other than that, it's a pretty good atmosphere. Often people ask about the smell of space and the smell of the space station. I remember it being almost like a clinical smell when I came on board. And I know, you know, Jeff, having just arrived a couple of days ago said, ah, that very familiar smell is quite hard to describe at the space station. The workday starts to wind down around 7 or 7.30 p.m. After that, the astronauts can enjoy some free time, such as watching a movie, reading a book or talking with loved ones back on earth. We also have great communications on board the space station with our families. We can use voice over IP telephones and effectively we can call anywhere on the planet. So we can keep in touch with friends and families in the evenings once we've finished our working day. Then it's time for bed. The astronauts crawl back into their sleeping bags and get some shut eye before they do it all again the next day. And that's how life continues on the station. Well, until the astronauts hurdle back to earth in a capsule at more than 500 miles per hour. Thank you, the verge station. We are now resuming operational audio communications. I love this. They're doing flips. All right. Did we kill it?
 We're about to speak with astronauts Tim Peake, Jeff Williams and Tim Kopra aboard the International
 Space Station to find out what life is like in lower Earth orbit.
 Please stand by for a voice check from the verge.
 Station, this is the verge.
 How do you hear me?
 We hear you loud and clear.
 First off, I would love to have you describe your day-to-day routine on the station.
 You know, what are your hours like?
 Is it a typical 9-5 gig and what do you spend most of your time working on?
 You know, it's a great question.
 You know, and it's an interesting place to both work and live because some aspects of
 our job are sort of like at home.
 We have a list of events we have to perform every day, but when you wake up and you get
 out of your sleeping bag in your crew quarters, you float out, usually float out to the place
 where we have all our food stowed and get some coffee and some breakfast and then do
 some cleanup.
 Originally coffee came in a freeze-dried bag, but recently astronauts were treated to a
 microgravity espresso machine, which pours coffee into a special zero-g coffee cup.
 And then the rest of the day is really filled with science experiments, with maintenance
 so that we can maintain the quality of life that we have up here.
 The microgravity environment of the space station offers up a lot of opportunity for
 research and the astronauts are responsible for making sure those experiments run smoothly.
 That can involve growing human tissues in protein crystals, starting fires, or cultivating
 produce and plants in the veggie plant growth area.
 There are very specific skills that we all have to have, even just to be assigned, be
 able to fly the robotic arm because we have vehicles that come here that we capture and
 then the ground docks it onto the space station.
 We have space walks and it's a very challenging task and we have to be proficient in that.
 Of course, space isn't always the easiest place to live and work.
 What have been the biggest adjustments both physically and mentally to living in microgravity?
 It took about 24 hours before I felt actually comfortable because for the first 24 hours
 there's a lot of dizziness and disorientation just as your vestibular system needs to really
 shut down and I think your brain tends to then rely just on information coming from
 the eyes so that you don't feel nauseous.
 Along with this space adaptation syndrome, astronauts often experience a lot of other
 health changes while in orbit.
 People lose bone and muscle mass because they don't have to work against gravity.
 Astronauts must exercise, such as weight lifting or running on a treadmill, for two and a half
 hours each day to counteract this problem.
 And the space environment has some other frustrating side effects too.
 You know, living in zero gravity is some of the best things about living and some of the
 most frustrating things about living because you know you can't just put your things out
 on a table and expect it to be there.
 You have to be very meticulous about all the things that you have.
 It has to be in a certain place and you have to remember where you put it because no longer
 is it just a flat surface in which something can be stowed.
 It can be stowed on any surface, either with tape or with Velcro and so that becomes a
 little bit of a challenge until you get used to living in this very unusual environment.
 Once you get the hang of microgravity, it makes for a great place to show off your skills.
 As for general human upkeep, the astronauts are deprived of one key earth comfort.
 Obviously we don't have a shower and that's probably one of the things that most of us
 most miss while we're up here and look forward to when we get back in the ground.
 But we still are able to keep very clean, essentially taking sponge baths.
 We have a toilet that you would recognize as a toilet and it works very well.
 Wonder how that toilet works?
 The answer is suction.
 Astronauts use leg restraints to position themselves over the toilet and then a fan draws out waste
 and liquid.
 Each astronaut has their own personal funnel for going number one.
 But don't worry, the space environment is kept super clean.
 What's the air like up there?
 Is there a distinct difference between the environment on the space station and the air
 here on earth?
 You know, we get to enjoy pretty good air up here.
 It's recycled, it's scrubbed from carbon dioxide and other harmful gases.
 It's a fairly constant humidity and temperature.
 The one thing that's very different from planet earth is we have about 10 times the CO2 level
 up here.
 But other than that, it's a pretty good atmosphere.
 Often people ask about the smell of space and the smell of the space station.
 I remember it being almost like a clinical smell when I came on board.
 And I know, you know, Jeff, having just arrived a couple of days ago said, ah, that very familiar
 smell is quite hard to describe at the space station.
 The workday starts to wind down around 7 or 7.30 p.m.
 After that, the astronauts can enjoy some free time, such as watching a movie, reading
 a book or talking with loved ones back on earth.
 We also have great communications on board the space station with our families.
 We can use voice over IP telephones and effectively we can call anywhere on the planet.
 So we can keep in touch with friends and families in the evenings once we've finished our working
 day.
 Then it's time for bed.
 The astronauts crawl back into their sleeping bags and get some shut eye before they do
 it all again the next day.
 And that's how life continues on the station.
 Well, until the astronauts hurdle back to earth in a capsule at more than 500 miles
 per hour.
 Thank you, the verge station.
 We are now resuming operational audio communications.
 I love this.
 They're doing flips.
 All right.
 Did we kill it?