Since ancient times, outer space has fascinated mankind. Early astronomers and scientists made many interesting and factual discoveries and observations which have helped modern
man understand many mysteries of the world outside our own. Today, there are lots
of new things being discovered in space by direct land-based observations and also from space-based instruments. Human curiosity has driven us to explore heavenly bodies other than Earth. There are many risks involved in handling the thousands of components and highly sophisticated engineering techniques that goes behind each satellite space launch. Moreover, the danger is multiplied several fold, when it is a manned flight.
The dangers we face on earth can be tackled reasonably well. But what about the dangers in outer space? Firstly, we may not have a clue as to what went wrong and the lives of astronauts could be at stake. Secondly, even if we know, the distance and the factors in space do not give us adequate time and resources to solve a problem quickly and easily. Thirdly, it may take a lot of time and money.
Today we will look into some challenges in space. The dangers and challenges described below have fortunately not happened so far. They are however quite a possibility, due to an accident or human error.
Radiation
The first danger could be radiation. There are different kinds of radiation. The Cosmic
rays are one. These are made up of subatomic particles accelerated to high energies
by violent events on the Sun, as wel l as exploding stars throughout the Galaxy. These
are so energetic that they can penetrate metallic shields a metre thick. While there are
methods for controlling the energy of solar particles, there is hardly anything that can be done to protect against galactic cosmic ray particles. We don’t know much about the health implications of long-term exposure to galactic-cosmic rays. These rays are extremely hazardous to living cells. Astronauts exposed to them could suffer damage to internal organs, eyes, ears and nose, develop cancers in later life and catch a cute radiation sickness.
Drifting Away
Imagine you are an astronaut and doing a spacewalk. You lost your grip on the spaceship’s hull, or the magnetic boots failed. With no air resistance or gravity to pull you back to the spaceship, you would move away at a constant velocity. One wrong move and you would float off endlessly. Your last hours would be spent drifting away in agony. Powerless to help yourself, you would have to just wait for your oxygen to run out.
Decompression
Our bodies are adapted to the Earth’s atmospheric pressure. One of the greatest fears of every space traveller is rapid decompression if their spacesuit or spaceship gets punctured. Exposure to a vacuum condi t ion would cause rapid expansion of airspaces inside the cell tissues and boiling of unpressurized bodily fluids like the moisture in our eyes. Starved of oxygen, one will lose consciousness within about 10 seconds and be dead a minute or two later. During rapid decompression, the trapped gas in our lungs could rupture explosively. The best course of action would be to scream our lungs empty, which we would probably do anyway. But for how long?
Cosmic Diseases
It is quite possible for the Earth’s population to succumb to an alien pathogen (like bacteria that causes diseases) brought back by one of our space probes. As our immune system wouldn’t have encountered such bugs, we would have no natural immunity.
Being marooned
If your car stops working you can simply call for a mechanic or emergency mobile repair service to get you on your way again. Imagine you are left out in an alien land without any option to escape. Any number of things on the spacecraft can go wrong to leave you stranded far from home and sitting there waiting for your oxygen to run out. Think of
having a planet to yourself... to use as your graveyard.
Black Holes
If you accidentally stray too close to a black hole, you will soon turn into noodles! The steep gravity gradient would suck you into it and the result could be that you become longer and thinner as your body draws closer and closer to the black hole. You could be dragged at a tremendous speed and disintegrate without any trace within seconds. Getting close to a black hole could thus be most fatal.
Burning in Space
Without gravity, fire behaves strangely. Fires burn very differently in the zerogravity or weightlessness of space because hot air doesn’t rise and the lack of convection means fresh oxygen doesn’t get drawn in. You won’t get great flames like we see on Earth, but a quiet
smoldering fire will spread and poison the air, endangering your mission and your very life.
Freezing Solid
Space is a vacuum, where gas particles are absent. Because nothing (for example, air) surrounds your body to absorb the heat by conduction or convection like a cold breeze would, you can only lose heat through thermal radiation. As such, it doesn’t really make much sense to talk about space being cold. In fact, it’s a very good thermal insulator that
wi l l keep you warm in the same way tea is kept hot in a Thermos flask. While the rest of your body might stay ‘toasty’, the absence of pressure will cause rapid evaporation of
the moisture on your tongue and in your nose, causing both to freeze solid. But due
to oxygen deprivation, one may die by then anyway - leaving a still-warm corpse.
Alien Attack
As in a f ict ional movie, imagine alien creatures attacking your spacecraft and taking possession of it. The unpleasant encounter could be quite damaging if they snap off the spacecraft’s ci rcui ts and life-sustaining mechanisms. And still worse could be a situation of them taking you captive to thei r galaxy for research!!!
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man understand many mysteries of the world outside our own. Today, there are lots
of new things being discovered in space by direct land-based observations and also from space-based instruments. Human curiosity has driven us to explore heavenly bodies other than Earth. There are many risks involved in handling the thousands of components and highly sophisticated engineering techniques that goes behind each satellite space launch. Moreover, the danger is multiplied several fold, when it is a manned flight.
The dangers we face on earth can be tackled reasonably well. But what about the dangers in outer space? Firstly, we may not have a clue as to what went wrong and the lives of astronauts could be at stake. Secondly, even if we know, the distance and the factors in space do not give us adequate time and resources to solve a problem quickly and easily. Thirdly, it may take a lot of time and money.
Today we will look into some challenges in space. The dangers and challenges described below have fortunately not happened so far. They are however quite a possibility, due to an accident or human error.
Radiation
The first danger could be radiation. There are different kinds of radiation. The Cosmic
rays are one. These are made up of subatomic particles accelerated to high energies
by violent events on the Sun, as wel l as exploding stars throughout the Galaxy. These
are so energetic that they can penetrate metallic shields a metre thick. While there are
methods for controlling the energy of solar particles, there is hardly anything that can be done to protect against galactic cosmic ray particles. We don’t know much about the health implications of long-term exposure to galactic-cosmic rays. These rays are extremely hazardous to living cells. Astronauts exposed to them could suffer damage to internal organs, eyes, ears and nose, develop cancers in later life and catch a cute radiation sickness.
Do You Know? To save fuel on journeys to distant planets, space probes may use a nearby planet’s gravity to catapult them on their way. This is called slingshot. |
Drifting Away
Imagine you are an astronaut and doing a spacewalk. You lost your grip on the spaceship’s hull, or the magnetic boots failed. With no air resistance or gravity to pull you back to the spaceship, you would move away at a constant velocity. One wrong move and you would float off endlessly. Your last hours would be spent drifting away in agony. Powerless to help yourself, you would have to just wait for your oxygen to run out.
 Footprints and tyre tracks left behind by astronauts on the moon will stay there forever as there is no wind to blow them away. |
Our bodies are adapted to the Earth’s atmospheric pressure. One of the greatest fears of every space traveller is rapid decompression if their spacesuit or spaceship gets punctured. Exposure to a vacuum condi t ion would cause rapid expansion of airspaces inside the cell tissues and boiling of unpressurized bodily fluids like the moisture in our eyes. Starved of oxygen, one will lose consciousness within about 10 seconds and be dead a minute or two later. During rapid decompression, the trapped gas in our lungs could rupture explosively. The best course of action would be to scream our lungs empty, which we would probably do anyway. But for how long?
Do You Know? Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system with a surface temperature of over 450 degrees Celsius. |
It is quite possible for the Earth’s population to succumb to an alien pathogen (like bacteria that causes diseases) brought back by one of our space probes. As our immune system wouldn’t have encountered such bugs, we would have no natural immunity.
Being marooned
If your car stops working you can simply call for a mechanic or emergency mobile repair service to get you on your way again. Imagine you are left out in an alien land without any option to escape. Any number of things on the spacecraft can go wrong to leave you stranded far from home and sitting there waiting for your oxygen to run out. Think of
having a planet to yourself... to use as your graveyard.
 The first man-made object sent into space was in 1957 when the Russian satellite named Sputnik was launched. |
Black Holes
If you accidentally stray too close to a black hole, you will soon turn into noodles! The steep gravity gradient would suck you into it and the result could be that you become longer and thinner as your body draws closer and closer to the black hole. You could be dragged at a tremendous speed and disintegrate without any trace within seconds. Getting close to a black hole could thus be most fatal.
Burning in Space
Without gravity, fire behaves strangely. Fires burn very differently in the zerogravity or weightlessness of space because hot air doesn’t rise and the lack of convection means fresh oxygen doesn’t get drawn in. You won’t get great flames like we see on Earth, but a quiet
smoldering fire will spread and poison the air, endangering your mission and your very life.
 The Moon appears to have more craters and scars than Earth because it has a lot less natural activity going on. The Earth is constantly reforming its surface through earthquakes, erosion, rain, wind and plants growing on the surface, while the moon has very little weather to alter its appearance. |
Freezing Solid
Space is a vacuum, where gas particles are absent. Because nothing (for example, air) surrounds your body to absorb the heat by conduction or convection like a cold breeze would, you can only lose heat through thermal radiation. As such, it doesn’t really make much sense to talk about space being cold. In fact, it’s a very good thermal insulator that
wi l l keep you warm in the same way tea is kept hot in a Thermos flask. While the rest of your body might stay ‘toasty’, the absence of pressure will cause rapid evaporation of
the moisture on your tongue and in your nose, causing both to freeze solid. But due
to oxygen deprivation, one may die by then anyway - leaving a still-warm corpse.
Alien Attack
As in a f ict ional movie, imagine alien creatures attacking your spacecraft and taking possession of it. The unpleasant encounter could be quite damaging if they snap off the spacecraft’s ci rcui ts and life-sustaining mechanisms. And still worse could be a situation of them taking you captive to thei r galaxy for research!!!
 When Neil Armstrong stepped on the Moon for the first time, he said these famous words: “That’s one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.” |
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