Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff from house stuff works dot com, where
Speaker 1: smart happens. Hi im mershiall brain with today's question, how
Speaker 1: do astronauts function in their space suits for hours at
Speaker 1: a time. Astronauts who spacewalk outside the Space Shuttle and
Speaker 1: the International Space Station can work for up to seven
Speaker 1: hours in the current space suit, which is also called
Speaker 1: the extra Vehicular Mobility Unit or e m U. The
Speaker 1: e m U is a marvel of technical achievement with
Speaker 1: a twelve million dollar price tag. Despite the advanced technology,
Speaker 1: though the mechanics used to meet the astronauts basic needs
Speaker 1: for food, water, and waste elimination are surprisingly low tech. First,
Speaker 1: there's eating. There's a slot in the hard upper torso
Speaker 1: or h u T portion of the e m U
Speaker 1: for a right paper covered fruit and cereal bar. The
Speaker 1: bar is designed so that the astronaut can take a
Speaker 1: bite and pull the remainder up. The entire bar must
Speaker 1: be eaten at once to prevent crumbs from floating around
Speaker 1: in the helmet. However, most astronauts prefer to eat prior
Speaker 1: to the spacewalk and not use this bar. But you
Speaker 1: can imagine going seven hours without food might be a problem.
Speaker 1: Then there's drinking. The space suit has an in suit
Speaker 1: drink bag or i d B, which is a plastic
Speaker 1: pouch mounted inside the h U T. The I d
Speaker 1: B can hold thirty two ounces or one point nine
Speaker 1: liters of water and has a small tube like a
Speaker 1: straw that fits up next to the astronaut's mouth. The
Speaker 1: astronaut can move his or her head within the helmet
Speaker 1: and suck water through that tube. Then there's eliminating waste.
Speaker 1: Each spacewalking astronaut wears a large absorbent diaper called a
Speaker 1: maximum Absorption Garment or MG, to collect urine and feces
Speaker 1: while in the space suit. The astronaut disposes of the
Speaker 1: MG when the spacewalk is over and he or she
Speaker 1: gets dressed into regular work clothes. For more on this
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