6 มิ.ย. เวลา 02:44 • ธุรกิจ

What Happens If You Take Your Helmet Off In Space?

The helmets astronauts use in space differ greatly from football or motorcycle helmets. However, the space helmets are crucial to a space walker’s life. If you are a fan of space movies or comics, you may have wondered what would happen to you if you removed your helmet in space. NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) fans and everyone who loves space exploration probably have similar thoughts.
Below are the major dangers you might experience in space without a helmet.
Vacuum Exposure
The earth’s atmosphere produces atmospheric pressure on the body. The atmospheric pressure allows your body to function normally. However, space lacks atmospheric pressure, so your body cannot function normally in space.
Astronauts wear pressurized body suits, including helmets, to facilitate normal body functions. You lose this pressure the minute you take off the helmet. Vacuum exposure causes bodily fluids, such as blood and air, to expand rapidly.
The rapid expansion of body fluids triggers decompression illness. Decompression illness can easily rapture your delicate body tissues, including the blood vessels. The illness also causes excruciating pain and can be fatal within seconds.
Your skin has natural moisturizing factors and lipids that keep it hydrated. The decompression illness can cause your skin moisture to vaporize within seconds. The result is rapid swelling and tissue damage. In short, vacuum exposure can trigger devastating health consequences within seconds.
Lack of Oxygen
The motorcycle and football helmets reviewed on Helmet Gurus differ considerably from those astronauts use. For example, the football and motorcycle helmets allow air to flow in and out. Air circulation is crucial since you need oxygen to stay alive.
Astronaut helmets are airtight since there is no air in space. The astronauts breathe oxygen they carry as part of their spacesuits. If an astronaut loses their helmet, which is part of the oxygen delivery system, they lose their oxygen supply too. You will appreciate the gravity of the loss if you have ever suffered oxygen deprivation, for example, during deep diving.
If holding your breath for a few minutes is difficult, imagine what you can feel in space if you take off the helmet and lose your oxygen. Impaired judgment, dizziness, confusion, and loss of consciousness can soon follow. Loss of oxygen can be fatal in less than ten minutes.
Cold and Radiation Exposure
If you have ever experienced frostbite during the winter, then you have another clue of what you might experience if you remove your helmet in space. Space is several times colder than the coldest winter you have ever experienced.
The helmet and body suit keeps you warm, so losing the helmet exposes you immediately to subzero temperatures. The cold exposure leads to hypothermia, in which your body loses heat faster than it produces. Hypothermia is dangerous because most vital organs cannot operate in subzero temperatures.
Lastly, space also has myriad forms of radiation, including solar, cosmic, and Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs). The radiation’s nature and intensity vary by location. The helmet absorbs the radiation, so they don’t affect you. Taking off the helmet exposes you to various forms of radiation. The exposure increases your risk of cancer and different forms of radiation illness.
Taking off a motorcycle helmet might not have immediate devastating effects like taking off helmets in space. However, you still need a helmet to protect you from head injuries while riding. Use the reviews and guides on Helmet Gurus to help you choose your next helmet.
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