Space · Living in space and watching the sky
The spacesuit
Not clothing: a vehicle
Only spacecraft can see it
The numbers
- What it is for
- Keeping the air insideOutside the pressure is zero
- Temperature swing
- 250°F(120 °C)-150 to 250 °F (-100 to 120 °C)
- Where they came from
- High-altitude flying and diving
To get an idea
Once pumped up it goes stiff: closing your fist for an hour is exhausting exercise.
At the same instant one side of the suit is scorching in the sun and the other is freezing in the shade.
Fun facts
These are not in the book: there was no room on paper.
That swing happens at the same moment, between the sunny side and the shady side.
The suit also supplies oxygen to breathe, water to drink and a radio to talk.
The visor has a very thin gold layer, which shields the eyes from the Sun.
The first suits were born by adapting gear for high-altitude flying and diving.
At first nobody even thought about protection from cosmic rays and from temperature.
Test yourself
The first question is the one printed under the QR code, with the answer the book did not give. The other four only exist here.
Question 1 of 5★ is the one from your book
What is the main job of a spacesuit?
Question 2 of 5
Why is it tiring to move inside a suit?
Question 3 of 5
What happens to the temperature?
Question 4 of 5
Where did the first suits come from?
Question 5 of 5
What is the gold layer on the visor for?
Riddles
The more they pump me up, the better I protect you, but the stiffer I get and the harder it is to move: closing your fist inside me for an hour wears you out. What am I?
On one of my sides it is scorching and on the other freezing, at the very same instant. I have to solve both problems together, without choosing. What am I?
Try it yourself
Blow up a rubber glove and try bending its fingers: they push back. That is why moving in a pressurized suit is so tiring.
Put one hand in the sun and one in the shade on a cold day: the difference you feel is many times bigger in space.
The words
- gold visor
- The very thin layer of gold that shields the eyes from sunlight.
Sources: Wikidata (Q189389), Wikipedia (Tuta spaziale).