Personal items for astronauts

Space rocket designers are battling for every gram of weight put into orbit, because of the technological carrying capacity of which the effectiveness and cost of the flight are dependent. Therefore, excessive things in orbit do not belong. Nevertheless, both American and Russian astronauts have the right to take the space of a small collection of personal belongings.

The Shuttle program includes a set of Personal Preference Kit, which is used to carry the personal belongings of an astronaut. Its contents must consist of 20 items, total weight not exceeding 0.682 kg. The volume of containers with personal items is strictly regulated by NASA and 12.82 × 20.51 × 5.13 cm.

On and if we turn to our space program, we immediately see the technological superiority, because the guarded Union is allowed to take a kilogram of personal belongings.

Apart from the KK kit, cosmonauts will be able to take small packages with personal items. It contains items that facilitate the state of mind, reducing the psychological stress of dwelling, in fact, in "can" at altitudes thousands of miles above Earth in outer space. These include books, CD-ROMs, festive decorations, religious literature, etc.

In addition, some personal items may appear among a set of mandatory things. For example, crew members can take their favorite baseball or sweater hat with their original alma mater logo with them into space. All of these things will be tied to the basic clothing set.

For American astronauts, there is also a set of Official Flight Kit, where crew members can put souvenirs from family or team of instructors. In the United States, it is common practice to carry a 4 x 6 inch photo into orbit with an instructor from a space training center. In order for the flight to be completed safely, astronauts must perform SELFI with an instructor image on the ISS wall, and then give it a picture after returning to Earth.