How astronauts sleep on the International Space Station - GIF

**Jon** · Sep 2, 2018, 10:38 AM

Astronaut and US Navy Captain Sunita Williams explains how astronauts sleep on the International Space Station.

What Williams doesn't mention is that sleep quality in space is actually very low. We have a good bit of data documenting this effect (NASA, NIH, The Lancet, and Harvard Medical have all weighed in), but we're still not really sure why this occurs. The truth is that astronauts make generous use of Ambien.

From NASA.gov:

During space missions, roughly three quarters of shuttle and ISS crew members reported taking sleep-promoting medication. Shuttle crew members reported taking sleep-promoting medications on about half of their nights in space, including nights prior to performing extra vehicular activity (EVA) work the next day which were extra mentally and physically demanding. The sleep-aid drug Zolpidem (brand name Ambien) was reported as the most often taken by shuttle crew members. The high prevalence of sleeping pill use during spaceflight, despite chronic sleep deficiency and improved sleeping conditions and quarters on the ISS, may suggest that some other aspect of the space environment, such as microgravity itself, might contribute to sleep disturbance.