Space: Do you want to see it?

Garriott on life in space: Food's not bad, but don't let the sleeping bag float away
By Lilly Rockwell
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Have you ever wanted to go to space? Richard Garriott did. His dad was an astronaut at NASA. Richard is not, but since he is a millionaire he was able to pay enough to go on the trip.
I wish I could go to space, but it would be weird to go to the bathroom on a space ship. “To urinate is not a big deal, at least not for a guy. You have a funnel with suction behind it,” said Richard.
“Solid waste disposal is trickier. You have a toilet, and there is a plastic bag with holes in the bottom. We do our business and hope that the airflow is enough to pull it into the bag. It's a fairly lengthy process and one that has to be done well because sanitation is a really important issue.”
Richard said that when he took off, he looked out the window and he could see the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge, all the little contrails, and the major highways. I think that would be really cool to see from that high above. He also said that when you go to bed, there are usually three little chambers that look like coffins. Since there were six people on the trip, the three that don’t get to be in the chambers use sleeping bags. Either you let the bag float around or tie it to a string.
The End