08. As for sleeping conditions, is sleeping difficult with constant changes of light? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

An orbiting spacecraft like the Space Shuttle or International Space Station goes around the Earth once every 90 minutes. So there is a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes. Light levels in the spacecraft, particularly near windows, can change quite a bit. Light helps to keep our biological clocks running along with the Earth's day. Inadequate Sun, or sunlight at unusual times, can lead to problems. A crewmember at a window could get a large amount of light right before bedtime when it is not wanted, and maybe not get enough light in the morning when it could be useful. Thus the crewmember's biological clock could be out of synchrony with the workday, resulting in poor performance and fatigue at a time when the crewmember wants to be awake and productive. In other words, the biological clock can lose connection with the sleep and wake times on the spacecraft. Crewmembers who are trying to work when their biological clocks think they should be asleep will feel sleepy.

---

Answer provided by Dr. Jay C. Buckey, Jr.

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

Buy This Book Click here