Ever wondered what life in space actually feels like, where gravity disappears and everything floats? In this episode of Figuring Out, host Raj Shamani speaks with retired United States Navy captain and former NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who was recently in India as a keynote speaker at the Kerala Literature Festival.  Williams offers a clear, unsensational account of everyday life aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and much more.

Life inside ISS

Shamani frames the conversation around her routine, asking Williams how it feels to eat, live, and manage daily chores in space. She describes the International Space Station (ISS) as a deeply human environment. Even in orbit, she notes with humour, “Everybody farts — though efficient ventilation ensures smells do not linger, but we’re all people at the end of the day. The space station smells like us.” What initially feels mechanical and unfamiliar gradually becomes lived-in and comforting, shaped by human presence.