• Question: Why can't you breath in space? why do you need pressurized suits on? what do they help with?

    Asked by anon-259867 on 6 Oct 2020.
    • Photo: James Smallcombe

      James Smallcombe answered on 6 Oct 2020:

      In space there is almost nothing, no gas, no breathable air, it’s an almost perfect vacuum.
      Our bodies are quite greedy for oxygen and our lungs are quite limited. We need a certain amount of oxygen molecules bouncing around inside our lungs to get enough oxygen in our blood for our bodies to work. If you go very high up on a mountain or in an open aeroplane, the air is actually thinner, meaning when you breath one lung full of air has less molecules of oxygen in it and you struggle to get enough into your blood. Space is just the next extreme, rather than less oxygen there is just none.
      As for pressure, think of it as a reverse submarine. As you go deeper and deeper underwater the pressure pushing in from all the water wants to crush the submarine. In space the pressure is reversed, there is still a lot of force but its outwards not inward. So we need pressure suits to keep us comfy and alive.

    • Photo: Siti Syuhaida Mohamed Yunus

      Siti Syuhaida Mohamed Yunus answered on 7 Oct 2020:

      Yes, I agreed with James. In space, there is no air to breathe and no air pressure. Space is freezing and filled with dangerous radiation. Without protection, an astronaut would quickly die in space. Spacesuits are specially designed to protect astronauts from the cold, radiation and low pressure in space. They also provide air to breathe. Wearing a spacesuit allows an astronaut to survive and work in space.

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