IOI
A spacewalk occurs whenever an astronaut gets out of a vehicle in space. An EVA is also known as a spacewalk. Extravehicular activity is also known as EVA.
It was Alexei Leonov who performed the first spacewalk. From Russia he came. March 18, 1965 marked the first spacewalk. The presentation lasted for 10 minutes.
There are many reasons why astronauts go on spacewalks. NASA astronauts can perform spacewalks while still inside their spacecraft. A spacewalk allows astronauts to perform science experiments. The exterior of a spacecraft can be used for experiments. Researchers can study how different things are affected by being in space.
In addition to testing equipment, astronauts can also perform spacewalks. Their capabilities include repairing satellites or spacecraft in space. As an alternative to bringing things back to Earth to be repaired, astronauts can repair things on spacewalks
1. Vintage clothing is your style
The garments are difficult to clean because, when in use, they’re filled with pure (highly combustible) oxygen — even lint left behind from cleaning could catch on fire, limiting the crew’s ability to clean the gear. Several people wear underwear and cooling garments, so it doesn’t matter who wears them. The situation is somewhat complicated.
In Wheelock’s opinion, if you sneezed into that room, it would smell like a locker room.
2. Your body temperature fluctuates.
“In space, we don’t have the protection of Earth’s atmosphere,”
Wheelock
So temperatures can rise in direct sunlight near the station’s reflective surfaces, then plummet in the evening when the sun sets. On the ISS, 90 minutes of sun rise and set translates to a massive temperature swing of nearly 500 degrees Fahrenheit every 45 minutes during a seven-hour spacewalk.
He adds that no amount of training in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab can prepare you for the shifts in temperature.
Cold is more difficult to handle than heat. Occasionally, astronauts can find shade on the space station. Wheelock explains that if he hadn’t worn a cooling garment, he would have melted into that suit.
3. Walking isn’t really walking
Spacewalker Scott Kelly joked that it shouldn’t be called spacewalking, but spaceworking after his extravehicular activity (EVA) on October 28th.
Similarly, Wheelock says walking is an inaccurate term, calling it rather a space ballet performed on fingertips.
Using your fingertips, you push off, you stop yourself, you hold onto things, and you just kind of push off and steady yourself.” he says.
Thus, it is understandable that gripping is the soreest muscle after a spacewalk: the hands and forearms. The legs are just a nuisance, Wheelock says.
The best way to gain spacewalking fitness is to squeeze your hands as hard as you can. Then you’ll have strong, big Popeye arms.
4. The language you use must be watched
NASA astronauts are able to hear every breath, every word, and every curse uttered during their spacewalks because their microphones are hot.
It can be quite frustrating to attempt to fix equipment outside the space station due to these harsh conditions and temperatures. If you find the going tough during a space walk, bite your tongue and find your happy place.
Wheelock says that, fortunately, no one has dropped an F-bomb during an open mic. I still remember in 2010, when I was working on that pump module, I was having a really hard time getting this one connector off and I think I said something like ‘damn’ to myself.
It wasn’t until he called his father on the phone and his dad told him, “I heard you curse,” that he began to realize he had been misled.
5. Creativity is required to scratch an itch.
In Wheelock’s opinion, you can move enough to scratch most stings when that sweaty suit becomes itchy. It’s the same maneuver astronauts do on an airplane when they pinch their nose and blow to equalize pressure if their ears are itchy (as they press their noses against a foam device to clear their ears). Mic booms and drink bag straws will help ease itchy upper cheeks. It sounds like a lump will do the trick for an itchy forehead.
6. There was always the possibility that things could be worse
There’s a saying that no matter how bad something is, you can’t make it worse in space, Wheelock says. In order to prevent accidents, it’s better to stay in the moment rather than dwell on the past. That’s why there’s so much communication there, he says.
In his opinion, the worst thing that could happen would be for space debris or a micrometeoroid to hit and tear a spacesuit, causing oxygen to leak out. During astronaut training, this scenario is taught, but not every potential danger can be foreseen – like when a spacewalking astronaut’s helmet filled with water, which blinded him as he returned to the airlock.
Any time you open the hatch and go outside into space, you are at risk. It’s just a matter of trusting your team and relying on your training,” Wheelock says.
7. Yet it’s also the most wonderful thing ever
Wheelock says he has moments where he looks forward to returning to the inside, but they are overshadowed by the moments when he does not want the experience to end. In a breathless state, with only his suit’s fan and his breathing to hear in his ears, he watched a green and red aurora scatter from the poles and lightning flash below him. This was a stunning sight.
“It’s swarming with motion and color and light and life in this vast sea, and it looks like the Earth is just raging just like that. I’m amazed at what’s happening.”
Additionally, he said, “It distracts you from your work, actually.”
CONCLUSION
In the relatively safe environment of the orbiting spacecraft, astronauts spend most of their time on the International Space Station (ISS). There are times, however, when astronauts must endure the deadly rapture of space for hours, with only their thin spacesuits between them and the frigid vacuum. Spacewalks are known for these jaunts.
In the early days of building the space station, spacewalks were vitally important. More than 20 years later, they remain an integral component of the enormous spacecraft’s maintenance in low Earth orbit.
