While being 'weightless' aboard the International Space Station (ISS) might appear the perfect, stress-free approach to losing a few post-holiday pounds, Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov explained how it really is still possible to keep track - even without a set of scales - as seen in exclusive footage from Monday.
"It is incorrect to use the word 'weighing' because here, in weightlessness, we have no weight. Any object has mass, but no weight. And if we try to use classical scales, which we use on Earth, putting any object on it, there will be no force to press it on the spring making it impossible to measure the weight," he explained.
"That's why we have a special device and it is called 'Mass Meter'," Borisov continued. "The device is designed to be fixed in a special way, we grasp the handles, hold a breath, put the chin on a special ledge and try not to move."
According to Borisov, the body mass is determined by the amount of vertical oscillation of the rig.
"When you see a heavy colleague being measured, the number of oscillations is lower, and if the measurement takes place with a body that weighs less, whose mass is less, the oscillations become more frequent. And approximately with an accuracy of about 100 grams, these measurements are recorded, and they are then passed on to our doctors on Earth, who draw the appropriate conclusions," Borisov added.
Three attempts are recorded, with an average taken to get the most accurate 'weight' - whether you want to find out or not!
Borisov arrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon with the Crew-7 expedition on August 27.
The crew also included NASA astronaut and Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
Borisov is the third Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket, after Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived at the station in October 2022 and March 2023, respectively.
Weigh to go! Cosmonaut Borisov shows how to 'step on the scales' aboard ISS *EXCLUSIVE*
While being 'weightless' aboard the International Space Station (ISS) might appear the perfect, stress-free approach to losing a few post-holiday pounds, Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov explained how it really is still possible to keep track - even without a set of scales - as seen in exclusive footage from Monday.
"It is incorrect to use the word 'weighing' because here, in weightlessness, we have no weight. Any object has mass, but no weight. And if we try to use classical scales, which we use on Earth, putting any object on it, there will be no force to press it on the spring making it impossible to measure the weight," he explained.
"That's why we have a special device and it is called 'Mass Meter'," Borisov continued. "The device is designed to be fixed in a special way, we grasp the handles, hold a breath, put the chin on a special ledge and try not to move."
According to Borisov, the body mass is determined by the amount of vertical oscillation of the rig.
"When you see a heavy colleague being measured, the number of oscillations is lower, and if the measurement takes place with a body that weighs less, whose mass is less, the oscillations become more frequent. And approximately with an accuracy of about 100 grams, these measurements are recorded, and they are then passed on to our doctors on Earth, who draw the appropriate conclusions," Borisov added.
Three attempts are recorded, with an average taken to get the most accurate 'weight' - whether you want to find out or not!
Borisov arrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon with the Crew-7 expedition on August 27.
The crew also included NASA astronaut and Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
Borisov is the third Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket, after Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived at the station in October 2022 and March 2023, respectively.
While being 'weightless' aboard the International Space Station (ISS) might appear the perfect, stress-free approach to losing a few post-holiday pounds, Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov explained how it really is still possible to keep track - even without a set of scales - as seen in exclusive footage from Monday.
"It is incorrect to use the word 'weighing' because here, in weightlessness, we have no weight. Any object has mass, but no weight. And if we try to use classical scales, which we use on Earth, putting any object on it, there will be no force to press it on the spring making it impossible to measure the weight," he explained.
"That's why we have a special device and it is called 'Mass Meter'," Borisov continued. "The device is designed to be fixed in a special way, we grasp the handles, hold a breath, put the chin on a special ledge and try not to move."
According to Borisov, the body mass is determined by the amount of vertical oscillation of the rig.
"When you see a heavy colleague being measured, the number of oscillations is lower, and if the measurement takes place with a body that weighs less, whose mass is less, the oscillations become more frequent. And approximately with an accuracy of about 100 grams, these measurements are recorded, and they are then passed on to our doctors on Earth, who draw the appropriate conclusions," Borisov added.
Three attempts are recorded, with an average taken to get the most accurate 'weight' - whether you want to find out or not!
Borisov arrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon with the Crew-7 expedition on August 27.
The crew also included NASA astronaut and Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
Borisov is the third Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket, after Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived at the station in October 2022 and March 2023, respectively.