Do astronauts cry in space? Video shows what happens when someone sheds tears in space

Astronaut Commander Chris Hetfield during his stay on board the International Space station (ISS) made a nearly five-month debut giving out stunning details about how life in space differed from that of the Earth. During this time, he outlined the Dos and Don’ts in Space, which interestingly involved some of the natural compulsive activities that are a part of being a human being such as brushing one’s teeth, getting emotional, and jerking a tear, or burping after a great meal. According to Hetfield, microgravity has impacts on human bodies at such lengths, that when in space some of the human activities such as sleeping, drinking coffee, crying, burping, or cutting the hair into a new style is a 'no-no'. 

While Hetfield has debuted several videos since his first landing on ISS, a recent tweet by an astrophile Danielle Weisberg asking how the astronauts managed to ‘not cry’ in space “all the time from being scared” brought the discussion about space etiquette back in the loop. Weisberg was responded by none other than the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.

The retired Canadian Space Agency astronaut who is an expert on living scenarios in zero gravity told Weisberg that the astronauts just did not have to cry. He tweeted some motivation, saying: ‘The greatest antidote for fear is competence.’ Although the question lingers, why does Hetfield warn that you better not cry in Space? 

Tears ‘don’t fall’

NASA astronaut Clayton C. Anderson once sharing his experience in a live-streamed video told Earth inhabitants, “I cried in space several times, due to some very emotional circumstances.” He, however, warned: “Crying is exactly the same as here on Earth.” Anderson goes on to add that the challenge in space about weeping your heart out is that the tears don’t fall down, as there is no gravity. But it’s not just tears that one is required to hold back in space.

Astronauts are trained to use a “no-rinse body bath” as in zero gravity the liquid is weightless and will splatter around like a ‘ball’ of water floating in space. So when astronauts want to shed tears, they have to suppress and hide their emotions. Similarly, pouring coffee may not be an option on ISS as the microgravity will turn the pouring into a disaster because zero-gravity implies zero acceleration towards the earth, except only orbital decay which is a periodic swing or a push of ISS ‘downwards’ every once in a month.