VIDEO: Tour of Space Station

Sunita Williams, in her last days at Commander of the International Space Station, gave a tour of the unit, which was downloaded on Nov. 18. With her hair haloing above her — almost as if she were under water — she hopped and floated around the space station, beginning in the Japanese laboratory, then going tot the Columbus European module, before showing some of the lab stations which are affixed to all four walls, including “ground” and “ceiling,” and this makes for saved space, since “all you have to do is move and your reference changes.”

She then toured the sleep station, which she said is “sort of like a little phone booth,” and which contained, aside from sleeping bag, a personal computer, and her personal “toys” — books and such — to make her feel more like home.

She showed off some of the things we’ve come to expect to see for space stations, exercise equipment so they don’t lose bone mass and muscle tone, and packets of dehydrated food, and snacks and candy. The bathroom also looks like it would take a bit of skill to execute, with its number one function being served by what looks like a lawn hose with a yellow receiver at the end, and the number two function requiring a bit of good aiming.

She led the camera man to a hole, a hallway in the “floor.” “This is one of the cool things about space too. It sorta looks like there’s a big ol’ hole here, but you don’t have to think twice about it: you can just jump over the hole, or you can jump into the hole…then you can come back up again, like superman” she said, while imitating superman stance and flying through the air.

For a scientist, she seems a lot of fun, and clearly has some fun amidst her work.