Astronauts and Their Hair.

In 2014 the film "Gravity" swept the board at the Oscars. The main thing about the film that impressed the judges was the technical advances the filmmakers developed to portray the zero gravity conditions. However they made one crucial mistake - Sandra Bullock's hair did not float in the absence of gravity. Since then the way that astronauts hair behaves has become something of a niche obsession.

For example in September 2014 Yelena Serova was preparing to become the fourth Russian woman in space. At a press conference she was asked what I thought was a rather reasonable human interest question about how she planned to care for her long hair during her time in space. This prompted a very angry response Serova who demanded to know why her short haired male colleagues weren't being asked the same question and triggered a wider discussion about sexism in Russian society. Then came the film "Interstellar" which was very similar to Gravity but featured Anne Hathaway - recovering from "Les Miserables" - with very short hair solving the problem.

On Friday (11/6/15) Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti returned to Earth after spending 199 days in orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS) thus making her both the woman and the European who has spent the longest recorded time in space. Beyond that achievement Cristoforetti is fluent in five languages and has two degrees in both mechanical engineering and aeronautical science. However the first thing that anyone - myself included - noticed about Cristoforetti was her hair. She sports the sort of short, choppy cut that on Earth can look quite flat and lacking in body. However in zero gravity it just seemed to work perfectly. As a result most of Cristoforetti's time on the ISS was spent fielding questions from the public about her hair and hosting web tutorials on hair care in outerspace alongside other traditionally feminine tasks such as cooking. Cristoforetti was also the first person to make an espresso coffee in space.

Somehow you can't help but wonder if this was all done on purpose. 

16:10 on 15/6/15 (UK date).