Astronaut on how to sneeze in helmet: 'Aim low'
Veteran spacewalker David Wolf answered a video question from the public Tuesday, explaining how to sneeze in a helmet during a spacewalk. His answer: "Aim low."
During a Twitter/YouTube question-and-answer session aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday, members of the shuttle Endeavour's crew fielded a variety of enquiries about life in orbit, including one that shed new light on the rigors of spacewalking.
"Hi, I'm Dawn from Indianapolis, Indiana, and my question is if you're in a spacesuit, especially out on an EVA and you have to sneeze, how do you deal with that? Especially if it splatters," one viewer asked in a video message uplinked to the astronauts. "Second part, if your nose itches while you're in a spacesuit, how do you deal with that? Thank you."
"Great question, absolutely great question because I've done it quite a few times, most recently yesterday," astronaut and veteran spacewalker David Wolf replied from the station. "And you learn in training, I don't know how to say this, but aim low, off the windshield, because it can mess up your view and there's no way to clear it. That's how you do it."
The solution to an itching nose remains a mystery.