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Astronauts
This category is for questions related to the personal requirements of Astronautical missions. The training, living accommodations, and working conditions both on the Earth and in space are discussed here. For further information on a particular astronaut, please see the name in question.
1,993 Questions
You, and the earth you're standing on, are hurtling at 100,000 kilometres an hour around the sun. That's 62,000 miles an hour!
How many people can a spacecraft hold?
The Lunar Rovers were small electric cars that the Apollo astronauts took to the Moon with them, and left there. The rovers were big enough for two astronauts, and could carry several hundred pounds of rocks and tools.
If you could go back to the Moon and bring it back to Earth, you wouldn't be able to drive it; the rover would collapse under the weight of two people in Earth gravity. But on the Moon, things only weigh about one-sixth as much as they do here.
What are the most facts about Julie Payette?
Julie Payette is a Canadian engineer, astronaut, and former Governor General of Canada. She was the first Canadian female to board the International Space Station and has logged over 610 hours in space. Despite her impressive career, she faced controversy during her tenure as Governor General and ultimately resigned in 2021.
Which astronaut became a senator?
John Glenn.
John Glenn, Jr. circled Earth in 1962 on the Mercury 6 space mission, becoming the first American to make a complete Earth orbit.
He also served as U.S. Senator to Ohio (1975 - 1999)
Do astronauts change their clocks when they move over different time zones in space?
No, they move over all time zones in about 90 minutes, so they would have to reset their watches about every 8 minutes. This would make it impractical for ground support people to keep track of what time they were on. On the Space Station, Coordinated Universal Time (usually called Greenwich Mean Time, GMT, or, in the military, Zulu Time) is used to regulate the onboard day.
Shuttle flights use Mission Elapsed Time (MET), a flexible timezone based solely on the launch time of the mission.
The time that astronauts use is Houston, Texas time so that Mission Control can have an acurate clock with the space station.
John Glenn was said to be the first pilot to orbit the earth beginning on February 20, 1962 after four years of previous preparation within the NASA program. His mission was to be sent into space, orbit and observe Earth, and to return home safely. The qualifications for this task included having to be less than 40 years old, excellent physical shape, shorter than 5'11'', qualified jet pilots with at least 1,500 hours of flying time under their belt, and a bachelors' degree in engineering.
Has an astronaut ever been sucked into a black hole?
No, it is not possible for an astronaut to be sucked into a black hole. Black holes are extremely far away and astronauts do not travel close enough to them. Additionally, the gravitational pull of a black hole is so strong that no known force or technology could overcome it.
Do astronauts grow taller in space?
Yes, you can become 2 inches taller in space; but will return to normal height when back on earth.
Gravity compresses the soft cartilage in your spine as you sit and stand up all day; so you are taller in the morning than at any other time in the day. This resets at night when you lie down, so no gravity would mean no compression.
Do plant cells contain a mitochondria?
Yes, plant cells contain mitochondria, which are responsible for producing energy for the cell through cellular respiration. Mitochondria are vital organelles found in various eukaryotic cells, including plant cells.
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Who was the first Australian born astronaut?
Philip Kenyon Chapman
While Chapman is the first Australian to train as an astronaut, he did not fly in space. That honour goes to Paul Scully Power, who flew on the STS-41 mission in 1984.
Is Mae Carol Jemison the astronaut still alive?
Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an American physician and NASA
astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel in space when she went
into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992.
After her medical education and a brief general practice, Jemison served in the
Peace Corps from 1985 to 1987. She resigned from NASA in 1993 to form a
company researching the application of technology to daily life.
She has appeared on television several times, including as an actor in an episode
of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She is a dancer, and holds 9 honorary doctorates
in science, engineering, letters, and the humanities.
As of early 2012, at age 55, Dr. Jemison is alive, healthy, and enjoying her retirement.
How long does it take for an astronaut to train before he goes into space?
Typically an astronaut must have at least a four-year college degree, and most have at least 2 years of school beyond that. Then they must undergo an intensive training program that typically takes a minimum of one to two years.
How do they prevent the glass of the astronaut suit to get misted over?
The inside of space suits are temperature and pressure regulated.
Contrary to popular belief, the primary design problem of space suits is not keeping the astronaut warm, but rather cool. Conduction and convection do not occur in space, so the only way an astronaut can shed body heat is through a liquid coolant system that eventually radiates the heat away into space. Without the liquid cooling suit worn underneath the space suit, they would sweat to death in about 20 minutes.
What is a safe temperature for austronauts to live in space?
A safe temperature for astronauts in space typically ranges from 65°F to 85°F (18°C to 29°C) to maintain comfort and functionality within the spacecraft. Extremes in temperature can pose risks to astronauts' health and mission operations.
Who is the first astronaut to land on Uranus?
Nobody has ever been to Uranus. It is much too far away for humans to travel there with our currently technology. It would take years to get there and years to get back. That presents many problems that we are not capable of overcoming now. Only space probes have been sent to it.
What will happen to an astronaut after pushing away from the outside of a spacecraft?
You would suffocate and die, assuming you were sucked out of a spaceship without a pressurized suit. Your organs and body would swell to 2-5 times normal size but not explode. If you could stay alive long enough you might experience various other issues, such as burning from direct sunlight, freezing from temperatures in space, and problems from decompression. Contrary to popular belief, your blood would not boil, and actually short exposures to space could be possible.
Why does Earth look mostly blue from space?
The blue color of the sky seen from the Earth is due to the scattering of blue light by molecules in the atmosphere. At progressively higher altitudes, the blue color is less distinct, and in space does not occur at all. This phenomena is called Rayleigh Scattering or the Tyndall Effect.
A bit of background: The white light from the sun is a mixture of all colours of the spectrum. Each colour of light ahas a wavelengths. The visible part of the spectrum ranges from red light (wavelength =720 nm), to violet (wavelength =380 nm), with orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo between. The human eye reacts most strongly to strongly to red, green and blue wavelengths. This gives us colour vision.
The explanation: Light passing through a clear fluid with suspended particles is scattered. Some wavelengths like blue are scattered more strongly. The first person to notice this and experiment with it was John Tyndall in 1859, so it is called the Tyndall Effect. He made three important observations:
- From the side, (the way we see most of the sunlight in the sky) the beam can be seen by the blue light it scatters
- The light seen directly at the end (looking towards the source) is red. This is the way we see the sunlight at sunset
- The scattered light is polarized. This is why polarized sun glasses make some parts of the sky seem darker.
Some early researchers (Tyndall and Rayleigh) thought that the blue colour of the sky must be due to small particles of dust and droplets of water vapour in the sky. Later scientists discounted this and proposed that oxygen and nitrogen molecules are the cause of the scattering.
In 1911 Einstein did the math to prove that the molecules could cause the scattering. Technically the molecules scatter light because the electromagnetic field of the light waves induces electric dipole moments in the O2 and N2 molecules.
How often do the astronauts get new supplies on the ISS?
Astronauts typically receive resupply missions every few months. These missions bring new food, equipment, experiments, and other supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) to support the crew's needs and ongoing research.
Which astronaut lost their space capsule?
The Astronaut that lost his space capsule was Gus Grissom. His capsule was the Liberty Bell 7, Part of NASA's Mercury project.
Space does not "lose" oxygen as it is a vacuum. Oxygen is present in the Earth's atmosphere, but it becomes extremely sparse as you move away from the planet. The lack of oxygen in space can make it uninhabitable for humans without proper life support systems.
How long does space go on for?
No one knows.
We can measure space distance in light years (distance light travels in a year, at 186,000 miles a second or 300,000 km/s). One light year is nearly 10 trillion km.
Current best estimates suggest the universe has an age of about 13.7 billion years. At the very beginning, just after the big bang, it briefly but dramatically expanded at a rate far faster than the speed of light (known as the period of inflation) and then at a lesser speed since then. This has placed much of the universe so far away that it can never now be reached if travelling at the speed of light.
We can see 'back' to some distant objects as they appeared about 13 billion years ago (and theoretically we could see back to just after the big bang 13.7 billion years ago). The calculations for their current distance (and thus the radius of the visibleuniverse) are complicated by the fact that the space has been expanding in the meantime, but it must exceed (the speed of light) x (the time taken to get here), i.e. over 13 billion light years [or 130 billion trillion kilometers]. Taking interim expansion into account multiplies this figure by about three times, and also gives the radius of the observable universe - the bits we can see assuming we can see back to just after the big bang - as 46.5 billion light-years.
But, how big is the universe including the non-observable portion, the bit we have permanently lost track of because of inflation? The answer has been estimated as at least 1023 times as large, that's 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times as large, and possibly far, far larger than that.
How do astronauts get skinny legs?
In microgravity of space, astronauts don't use their leg muscles as much, leading to muscle atrophy. This can result in skinny legs when they return to Earth. Regular exercise and physical therapy help astronauts regain muscle mass and strength.
Note: This is science fiction. The LOST TAPES episode "Alien" begins with: "The presence of hidden creatures is the subject of continued debate" ... "The following story is INSPIRED by the possibility of their existence"... It could happen...but it has not yet...that we know of... :)
What are juggernauts suit made out of?
Juggernaut's suit is made out of a mix of steel, kevlar, and various other advanced composite materials. It provides enhanced durability and protection against physical and energy-based attacks.
