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What is it like to sleep in space?

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Author's Note: What is it like to sleep in space?

I like when I get to write about NASA; NASA research has changed the way we live in our daily lives, with inventions from shoe insoles and scratch-resistant lenses to ear thermometers and water filters. They've also given us memory foam. That's the temper foam found in Tempurpedic (and similar) mattresses, which seems ironic considering sleep deprivation and insomnia are big problems for astronauts living in space.

Something like 9 million Americans rely on prescription sleep-inducing meds to get a decent night's sleep, and that's not even counting those of us who try teas, over-the-counter remedies, or just suffer through it. The next time you can't get comfortable in your bed and find yourself thinking that surely an anti-gravity pod would be more comfortable than your mattress, think again -- insomnia plagues humans in space, too.

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