What to pack for a trip to the moon

Published Sep 18, 2018

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Japanese fashion retail billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has been named as the first tourist to travel to the moon with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space transportation company.

While most of us may not have the funds to take a trip to the moon for our next holiday, however, if one day it becomes affordable, we would need to know what to pack. 

Travelling to outer space takes a lot of preparation and everything has to be planned carefully in advance.

Water is heavy and there are no laundry facilities on an outer space journey so that means wearing the same clothes, including underwear, for several days in a row. As the temperature is controlled and you won't go outside except when wearing their spacesuit, clothes don't get as dirty.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa speaks after SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk announced him as the person who would be the first private passenger on a trip around the moon. Photo: Chris Carlson/AP

So how does one pack for a trip to the moon?

NASA instructor and engineer Robert Frost provides some insight into what astronauts pack when they travel into space:

1 pair of shoes for the treadmill

1 pair of shoes for the bike

1 pair of exercise shorts for every 3 days of exercise

1 T-shirt for every 3 days of exercise

1 work shirt for every 10 days

1 T-shirt for under the workshirt for every 10 days

1 pair work pants/shorts for every 10 days

1 pair underwear for every 2 days

1 pair socks for every 2 days

2 sweaters

2 pairs of overalls (optional)

Medication:

While bacteria and other microbes can survive space travel, infections are rare and there are fewer people to transmit the germs. Nevertheless, the space station carries a plethora of antibiotics just in case.

There are several different medical boxes on the space station, which are grouped into categories such as injections, topical medication, oral medication, and emergency equipment. Then there's a personal pack to help an individual cope with illnesses and injuries that might come their way during a mission.

Instead of the 24-hour light-dark cycle, we experience on earth, outer space travellers will see a sunrise and sunset every 92 minutes, which is likely to have an effect on their sleep pattern, so sleeping pills are required to ensure that they get to sleep.

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