Matthew Miner

Sleep Like an Astronaut

We bought a new mattress. The springs in our IKEA Sultan Hanestad were getting creaky. It was time.

It’s been ages since I bought a mattress and I haven’t kept abreast of the latest developments in sleep technology. The nice lady at Sleep Country gave us the rundown. Latex, innerspring, memory foam. Motion isolation, heat retention. Sealy, Saatva, Purple, Tempur-Pedic.

With no hint of irony she explained that materials in the top brands were invented by NASA. My ears perked up. NASA has incredible engineers. They’re also the last organization that comes to mind when I picture comfort. I watched Chris Hadfield demo the sleeping quarters on the ISS and the “bed” is a sleeping bag strapped to the wall. Not exactly persuasive.

We wound up buying a Casper. It’s fine.1


  1. Finding mattress reviews that aren’t obvious astroturfs is difficult. Sleep Like The Dead seems like the best site for authentic assessments. If they’re shills then they do an impressive job hiding it.