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Working Inside a Spacesuit

Interesting facts

Similarities Between Scuba Diving and Spacewalking

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Astronauts say that scuba diving is similar to spacewalking. In both cases, the people practising the activity must wear equipment required for their survival in an environment that is naturally harmful to them. The duration of the activity is predetermined and is limited to the oxygen reserves available in the tanks.

Caisson disease is also a common concern to scuba divers and spacewalking astronauts. However, for divers, decompression sickness or “the bends”, as it is most commonly refered to is likely to take place at the end of the activity rather than at the beginning, as is the case for astronauts. Divers are most likely to suffer the effects of the decompression during ascent. To prevent this phenomenon, divers must ascend gradually to reduce the chances of creating nitrogen saturation in their internal organs and tissues.

When diving, movements are restricted by the water, putting greater resistance on our bodies than would the air. Regardless, divers move quite freely under water. Moving one’s arms backwards will project the body forward. In space, however, because of the complete absence of atmosphere, motions astronauts make in order to move are of little or no consequence (in the best of scenarios, astronauts will spin on their own axis). It is therefore necessary for the astronaut to access handrails in order to move from one point to another along a spacecraft.

Activity:

• Inflated gloves – Exploring the challenges of working with pressurized gloves in an environment where the external pressure is zero