Life in space – scientific journey

Here is somewhere beyond the clouds!

Hi Hi! Guys, when you look at the night sky, do you want to travel to the stars or the moon? Do you want to know how it is to travel on the other side of the clouds? Or have you ever wanted to live in the sky? Today I am going to tell you things that will be very useful for you to live in space!

60 years ago, the first man traveled into space. His name was Yuri Gagarin and he circled the planet in 108 minutes! 20 years ago, humans were able to send a very, very large spaceship that was the size of a football field into space. They named this ship: International Space Station.

So far, many people have gone to space and lived there for a long time! Did you know that there is no oxygen in space? So how do you think astronauts breathe? Yes! There are devices in space stations that produce oxygen! In this way, astronauts can breathe more easily and do their work.

Guys! When the astronauts want to go outside the spaceship to carry out the mission, they must wear special clothes that are connected to the oxygen generator! You must have seen the movie Toy Story! Do you remember one of the toys was called Buzz Lightyear and he was an astronaut? Do you remember his outfit? Astronauts’ clothes are exactly like Lightyear’s clothes!

There is no gravity in space! What? Do you not know what gravity is? I will explain to you now! The gravity force is what keeps us humans and other animals and things on the surface of the earth. It means that gravity does not allow us to be thrown up! But there is no gravity in space! Therefore, if we send a big elephant into space, it will float in space like a big balloon!

Of course, sending something this big into space requires a lot of fuel and a very large ship, which costs a lot! So it is better to not send an elephant into space for now!
OK! Now that there is no gravity in space, what problems arise?

In space, if your water glass does not have a lid, water drops will come out of the glass and spread throughout the ship. That’s why you should only drink water with a straw in space. It might be interesting to you that because there is no gravity in space, astronauts cannot take a shower or use a bathtub! So how do they bathe?

They rub a towel with a special soap and moisten the towel and bathe with the same towel. No water! can you believe it? In space, astronauts have to use a shampoo that does not need to be washed with water to wash their hair.

Another interesting point is that you are not allowed to light a fire in space! Because there is no gravity in space and the fire spreads very quickly in the ship and then: BOOM! The spaceship explodes!
Well, when you can’t light a fire, it means you can’t eat hot food! So what happens to the astronauts’ food?

Astronauts take frozen canned food with them to space! Let me also say that these canned foods do not have any special taste! Astronauts cannot take steak or fried fish into space with them.
But in space stations, there are devices that add flavor to these foods! So do not worry. If you want to go to space, your food will have taste.

OK! A very important point is that exercising in space is mandatory! Yes! Astronauts must exercise for one hour every day with a special exercise machine so that their muscles and bones do not get destroyed.

Do you know what has to be done if an astronaut gets sick in space? In space there is no hospital, doctor or nurse! There are devices in space that check the health status of the astronauts every day, and if one day they find out that one of the astronauts is sick, they call a doctor on the earth! That doctor will try to treat him from a distance!

As it is known, life in space is very difficult! But traveling to the space station is also very hard! In the fastest way, the trip from Earth to the space station takes 5 hours. You must be thinking to yourself that this is not much at all! But you should know that when the spaceship leaves the earth’s atmosphere, the astronauts suffer very, very hard!

It takes 2 minutes for the ship to leave the Earth’s atmosphere. During these 2 minutes, the astronauts have to bear the pressure on their chest. Because the speed of the ship is very high! Do you know what this looks like? Like when you sit in a car and the driver moves fast! what will happen to you? Yes! You sink into the chair! This is what happens to astronauts with much more intensity!

When astronauts live in space for 5-6 months, their bodies get used to the conditions without gravity, and when they return to Earth, they cannot walk for a while.

Maybe you have been asked why humans spend so much money and astronauts struggle so much to stay in the space station? Why did people build a space station?

First, if people have a space station, they can use this station for future space travels, such as traveling to the moon and Mars. So there should always be some astronauts there to watch over the station.

Second, the space station helps us to understand what we should be prepared for if we have to leave the earth!

Indeed! Let me also say that NASA has considered a prize of several million dollars for the coolest idea for the astronauts to go to the toilet. In your opinion, how do astronauts use the toilet?

see next episode: The nebulae – scientific journey Episode 2