There Is No Space In SPACE!!!
Updated : Apr 24, 2009
The International Space Station, once a place where astronauts would share food and facilities, is said to be embroiled in a Cold War-like stand-off because of…..wait for it…….. toilet facilities.
A Russian cosmonaut has ironically complained of space issues-and by space we don’t mean outer space- as he is no longer allowed to use a US toilet as well as a US exercise bike.
Gennady Padalka, 50, told Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper the lack of sharing was lowering the crew's morale.
The veteran cosmonaut said the problem was due to the ISS becoming a more commercial operation.
For several years after his first space mission in 1998, Mr Padalka claimed he and his American colleagues worked in total harmony.
But space missions became more commercial in 2003 and Moscow started billing Washington for sending its astronauts into space and other nations responded in kind, he added.
"What is going on has an adverse effect on our work," said Mr Padalka, 50, a veteran of two space missions who is to be the station's next commander.
Before he lifted off to join the ISS crew on Thursday, Mr Padalka had asked whether he could use a US gym to stay fit.
"They told me: 'Yes, you can. Then they hold consultations and they approve it again. And now, right before the flight, it turns out again that the answer is negative."
Worse still, the regulations now required US and Russian cosmonauts to eat their own rations, he added.
"They also recommend us to only use national toilets. Cosmonauts are above the ongoing squabble, no matter what officials decide.It's politicians and bureaucrats who can't reach agreement, not us."
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