Health security

How To Survive Self-Isolation According To Astronauts

Across the globe, cities and even entire countries are on lockdown as governments desperately try to flatten the curve of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. For some, self-isolation is an opportunity to take a step back, wear those joggers for the third day in a row, and re-watch Breaking Bad. Social butterflies, on the other hand, fare less well confined to their bedrooms, and while celebrities in mansions continue to broadcast that “we’re all in this together”, it can feel like a rough deal when you’re holed up in a dilapidated and cramped six-person houseshare. 

In these distressing times, it’s good to look to the professionals for advice on how to survive quarantine with your sanity intact, and who knows more about passing the time during isolation than astronauts?

In an opinion piece for the New York Times, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly recently wrote, “When I lived on the International Space Station (ISS) for nearly a year, it wasn’t easy. When I went to sleep, I was at work. When I woke up, I was still at work. Flying in space is probably the only job you absolutely cannot quit.”