Tiangong "extracurricular class": Are these rumors about astronauts true?

There are tens of billions of "mansions" living, but there is no way to order a takeaway. Obviously, it is a "room with a view of the sun" that can watch the sunrise 16 times a day, but even the windows cannot be opened...

On the Chinese space station at an altitude of 400 km from the ground, the daily life of astronauts is much different from that of the earth, and there are many interesting sayings about the lives of astronauts, some of which are somewhat related to the facts, and some are completely blind, today we will comb through and see whether the statements about the daily life of astronauts are reliable in the end.

Because the space station is a closed environment, and it is not easy to replenish supplies, so living on it, one is to pay attention to "environmental protection" and minimize the pollution of the cabin environment; the other is to pay attention to "saving" and try to avoid unnecessary consumption. Knowing these two points, it is easier to understand the content of this article. Let's get started.

01

Can't you really fart in a space station?

This is really a heavy taste rumor, saying that there are combustible gases in the fart, which may cause a fire on the space station, so it is not possible to vent at will on the space station... The good thing is that it's just an over-interpretation, not a fact. Why?

We excrete a lot of gases from the end of the digestive tract every day, including the air we entrain when we eat food, and there are various gases produced by our gut microbiome metabolism, including hydrogen and methane, both of which are flammable and explosive, and if left untreated, too much accumulation in the air does have the risk of causing a fire.

But engineers have long considered these problems, installed an air quality control system on the space station, which can provide clean air for the space station to ensure the survival of astronauts, this system in addition to continuously generating oxygen, removing carbon dioxide, but also able to absorb and process other trace amounts of harmful gases, including methane and so on.

However, fire prevention is no problem, anti-odor is a bit difficult, someone on the earth accidentally put a fart, it is easy to dissipate with the wind, but on the space station, due to weightlessness, air circulation is relatively slow, if you fart farther away from the air circulation system outlet, it is easy to form a fart "field", so that the odor lasts for a long time. Similarly, this is why astronauts have to have a fan on the side when they sleep - if they do not blow away the exhaled carbon dioxide in time, the astronauts may suffocate because of their exhaled exhaust gas.

In addition, people in space will increase their daily exhaust volume compared to on Earth, so astronauts tend to choose foods that are less likely to produce gas for reasons of reducing the burden on the space station and improving the environment of the space station.

In summary, on the space station, although it is necessary to reduce the amount of farts and deal with them properly, there is really no need to hold every one...

02

Can astronauts really not take off their socks?

This statement is basically true, for the following reasons:

We will fall from the body every day a lot of small pieces, including about 3 grams of dander, in the space station, because the environment is relatively dry, it is easy to produce dander, and the feet due to the original cuticle is relatively thick, sebaceous glands are relatively small, especially easy to peel.

And because the space station is in a weightless state, the peeled skin will not fall obediently as it did on Earth, they will float in the space station until they are filtered out by the air quality control system. But before that, there's a good chance that these dander will be sucked in by someone else or stuck to some instrument.

Therefore, for the air quality of the space station, everyone should wear good socks to avoid dander flying around, and when changing socks, we must also pay attention to gentle movements, so as not to accidentally fly a large number of dander bombs into the air.

03

Do astronauts need to remove their nails before they go to heaven?

This is really a complete rumor.

This kind of rumor generally says that in the vacuum environment of space, the nails will fall off directly and accompanied by pain, and there will be wounds, and it is very difficult to deal with wounds in space, so it is necessary to remove the nails in advance to avoid wounds and infections. Being able to make up such rumors can be said to be imaginative and indeed rich in imagination but slightly insufficient knowledge...

Because astronauts are mainly active in the spacecraft, even if they need to go out of the cabin, the spacesuit is also gloved, how can it be directly exposed to the finger in the vacuum? Besides, pulling out the nails itself will produce wounds, and the heavens will perform the task for a long time, and the nails will grow back, so do you have to deal with it again?

This rumor may originate from a 2010 study, which found that due to the design of some space suit models, some astronauts with large hands are more likely to be hurt by squeezing, which may cause nails to fall out when severe. But with the improvement of the design of space suit gloves, such problems have disappeared.

In addition, if you pay attention to the astronauts taught in the Tiangong classroom, or take a closer look at the pictures of the astronauts who come out of the capsule after successful landing, you will find that their nails are obviously fine, but they are very neatly trimmed and smooth - yes, of course, the space station can cut the nails, and the cut nails can be put away so as not to float around.

04

The environment around the astronaut is quiet?

Some friends believe that space has no air and cannot transmit sound, and astronauts should not hear anything on the space station, but in fact it is just the opposite. For example, when teaching in the Tiangong Classroom, if you listen carefully, you can find the sound of various equipment running.

Originally, the space itself is very quiet, but in order to ensure the normal work and life of astronauts, the space station needs a variety of system support, such as ventilation and purification in the cabin, all need the fan to run non-stop, which will produce a certain amount of noise. In addition, other equipment such as the operation of space test instruments, ventilation and heat dissipation, pumps, motors, electric valves, etc. will also produce certain noise. When the space station changes orbits, the engine operation also produces noise. Astronauts also generate noise when they move inside the cabin.

If astronauts work in a noisy environment for a long time, it will not only affect work efficiency, but also endanger health. Therefore, it is also necessary to deal with noise problems when designing space stations, and astronauts sometimes use devices such as earplugs and noise-canceling headphones to reduce noise.

From this point of view, although the daily life of astronauts in space is very wonderful, there are many difficult places, ah, I wish our three astronauts to complete their missions as soon as possible, and return safely to rest well.

Author | Ding Song

Audit | Liu Yong

The reproduced content represents the views of the author only

Does not represent the position of the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

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Source: Scientific Debunking

EDIT: Hidden Idiot