Hello fellow steemians!!
I, genuinity would like to once again welcome you all to my mini series "Space Science" in which we will talk about the science related to space.
Ok let’s have a look at this nice-looking garment. This is what we folks call SPACE SUIT. As name suggests, these are worn as a safety measure in case of cabin pressure within the spacecraft, extravehicular activity and to carry out work outside spacecraft. Basically, they are lifesaving utility in the space.
But,
Have you ever imagined in your wild thoughts about what would happen to our body without spacesuit in space?
Will we survive?
Without spacesuit, we may have seen the impact of the body in space in many Hollywood movies but in reality, this is a very dramatic event. Let's know it further.
As we all know, our Earth has a protective atmosphere of its own which somewhat defines our existence. It protects us from harmful UV rays, maintains atmospheric pressure and regulates temperature.
The space outside the Earth's atmosphere is an area of no oxygen where we cannot breathe and there is no air pressure. The temperature might be either bone chilling or boiling depending on how far/near we are from sun or other stars. There is a section of fatal Ultraviolet Radiation emerging from large amounts of other stars and sun. At such a place, if spacesuit is not worn or if we get out of it for some reason, then the situation we might be in, would be far beyond our wildest horrifying dream.
What can possibly happen??
If we get out of the spacecraft for some reason without wearing the spacesuit then we will suddenly realize that all the air of our lungs are going outwards. There is no pressure in space, so the air inside the body will try to move beyond our lungs which is very painful. In such extreme environments, the body will take around 15 seconds to fully use all the oxygen in the blood. If the oxygen-free blood has reached the brain, we will die.
Now some of us might be wondering “What happens when we hold the breath as we do in earth?” – The answer is pretty simple. There is no outside pressure in the space so if there is any remaining air in the lungs, it would rapidly expand and eventually rupture.
Also, some parts of our body will lose control of their physical activities due to such severe deficiency of oxygen.
Lower the pressure, lower will be the boiling point. This is the reason why water boils faster at the top of the Mouth Everest than anywhere in the earth. If there is no pressure in space then the boiling point of our body's liquid can be reduced very fast. The pressure in the space is so low that the body fluid’s boiling point is well below the normal body temperature i.e. 37 degree Celsius . Due to this, all the liquid inside our body will start boiling. Boiling blood can block blood flow to the vital organs of the body which would be enough to take our life. If a bubble in this boiling blood goes to our heart, it may lead to heart attack.
Also, If the liquid in the blood stream started boiling, it will start to change in the form of air i.e. gas bubbles. This is called Ebullism and will make skin to swell up even up to twice the normal size. Though NASA has clarified that during such a situation there will be no explosion of any kind in our body nor will our eyes get out of our head, as shown in Hollywood movies. But yeah it would be painful.
Even if we are unconsciously floating in the space, our problems will not be over yet because the temperature will be more than 250 degrees Fahrenheit due to the sun, which will be enough to burn immediately. There will be rains of radiation coming from other distant stars beside the sun. Harmful UV light, gamma rays and X-rays will cause damage to the body cells. If we had somehow survived, such rays can kill us from cancer.
On the other hand, if we are not in front of/near the sun, then the temperature might go as low as -440 degree Fahrenheit. But in this case, we won’t die immediately as we are in a cold environment, but our body temperature will still be warm i.e. our entire body will slowly cool down. And perhaps we can buy some minutes to find a way to escape.
SUMMARY
(credit-www.smithsonianmag.com)
So to conclude, if we are without space suit in such extreme space condition, we might swell up, freeze, burn, have some mutation, lose consciousness or our lungs might explode but yes, we will have little over a minute to survive. That’s a possibility…. slight possibility.
That's is all for today. Thanks for reading this episode of 'Space science'. If you liked it, feel free to upvote, resteem and leave a comment! I would love to know what you think.
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