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