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this is 99% invisible I'm Roman Mars

launch control this is space venture I'm Roman Mars. Launch Control.

This is Space Venture.

Radio is on.

Spacecraft design is a study in humanity.

At least that's what Mary Roach says.

My name is Mary Roach.

I'm the author of Packing for Mars, the curious science of life in the void.

In the beginning, the designers of the space habitation modules.

The box where the crew lives.

Yep, that's the one.

They stuck with what they knew.

Very few people had spent any time up there or in zero gravity.

People had just intuitively designed it like a room on Earth.

There would be a control panel and then there were little chairs. There were seats that you would sit and it makes no sense. In zero gravity you can't sit. You would have to strap yourself to the seat.

The reason is simple. We are humans when we have a room, we have a floor and a ceiling, we have chairs and tables, and that's

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