WEBVTT - Do Astronauts Need Sunscreen in Space?

0:00:01.840 --> 0:00:07.600
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff

0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:13.600
<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogebom Here. When NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong took his

0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:16.720
<v Speaker 1>one small step out of the Apollo Lunar module, he

0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:21.079
<v Speaker 1>looked out at the Moon's surface through overlapping shields. He

0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:25.000
<v Speaker 1>was wearing a transparent bubble shaped helmet fitted with visors

0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.080
<v Speaker 1>that could be raised or lowered at will. The innermost

0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:31.680
<v Speaker 1>advisor and the bubble itself were made of polycarbonate shielding,

0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:35.440
<v Speaker 1>a material that helped protect Armstrong from getting an overdose

0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:41.639
<v Speaker 1>of ultraviolet light in the electromagnetic spectrum. Ultraviolet light has

0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:44.360
<v Speaker 1>wavelengths that are a little bit shorter than visible light,

0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:47.920
<v Speaker 1>but a little bit longer than X rays. We can't

0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:51.520
<v Speaker 1>see UV light with our eyes, but some birds, reptiles,

0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:55.440
<v Speaker 1>and insects like bees can. The Sun and other stars

0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:58.520
<v Speaker 1>give off UV light. One of the ways we categorize

0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:01.480
<v Speaker 1>types of this light is into three bands based on

0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:05.240
<v Speaker 1>how much shorter they are than visible light waves. UVA

0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.720
<v Speaker 1>waves are the longest, UVB waves are shorter, and UVC

0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:13.640
<v Speaker 1>rays are the shortest. UVA waves are what's produced in

0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:16.399
<v Speaker 1>black lights, and it's used in tanning beds and to

0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.360
<v Speaker 1>detect all kinds of things arranging from refrigerant leaks to scorpions.

0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:25.320
<v Speaker 1>When we're exposed to them, UVA waves can cause skin

0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:30.240
<v Speaker 1>tanning and skin aging, and can cause eye damage. Meanwhile,

0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.960
<v Speaker 1>contact with UVB waves prompts our skin to manufacture vitamin

0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.679
<v Speaker 1>D three, but too much of it can give you

0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:39.720
<v Speaker 1>a sunburn, and over time it can irreparably damage the

0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.080
<v Speaker 1>DNA in your skin, leading to skin cancer. It also

0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:47.640
<v Speaker 1>causes eye damage. UVC waves are the most dangerous because

0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.920
<v Speaker 1>they're a type of ionizing radiation, meaning that they have

0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:54.440
<v Speaker 1>enough energy to knock electrons right out of atoms, which

0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:57.320
<v Speaker 1>can change the form and function of whatever those atoms

0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:01.360
<v Speaker 1>are a part of, from spacecraft instruments to living flesh.

0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:05.120
<v Speaker 1>UVC waves can be used to sterilize surfaces of germs,

0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:10.799
<v Speaker 1>and they'll definitely damage humanized in skin. I should clarify

0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:14.080
<v Speaker 1>here because I just use the word radiation that all

0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:17.519
<v Speaker 1>light and other waves in the electromagnetic spectrum are types

0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.720
<v Speaker 1>of radiation, but ionizing radiation is the really dangerous category,

0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:25.160
<v Speaker 1>you know, your Chernobyl or Godzilla category due to the

0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:30.200
<v Speaker 1>effects that I just mentioned. Anyway, it's lucky for us

0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:33.880
<v Speaker 1>that Earth's ozone layer absorbs nearly all of the UVC

0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.720
<v Speaker 1>waves that the Sun gives off and about ninety five

0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:41.800
<v Speaker 1>percent of the UVB waves as well. Sunscreen, sunglasses, and

0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:45.400
<v Speaker 1>appropriate clothing offer us Earth dwelling folks a good measure

0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.680
<v Speaker 1>of defense against the UV waves that do pass through

0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:51.720
<v Speaker 1>the ozone barrier, But once an astronaut leaves low Earth

0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:55.000
<v Speaker 1>orbit and thus leaves the ozone layer behind, they need

0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:59.359
<v Speaker 1>a bit more protection. The Moon doesn't have much of

0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:03.320
<v Speaker 1>an atmosphere, so its surface is a wash in ultraviolet radiation.

0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.440
<v Speaker 1>There's evidence to suggest that UV waves may be partially

0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:11.200
<v Speaker 1>responsible for the levitating clouds of lunar dust that we've observed.

0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.480
<v Speaker 1>There are also six American flags on the surface of

0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:17.799
<v Speaker 1>the Moon, and astronomers think the decades of UV bombardment

0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.560
<v Speaker 1>have probably bleached them white by now. And on the

0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:24.400
<v Speaker 1>Apollo twelve mission, a TV camera was ruined when an

0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:30.079
<v Speaker 1>astronaut accidentally aimed at the Sun with so much unfiltered

0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:33.360
<v Speaker 1>UV radiation afoot that you might think that astronauts whose

0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.600
<v Speaker 1>spacewalk on the Moon or otherwise would come home with

0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:41.280
<v Speaker 1>terrible sunburns, But spacesuits, including those donned by the Apollo

0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:45.200
<v Speaker 1>Explorers are made with heavy fabrics that block out UV rays.

0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:48.880
<v Speaker 1>A member of the Gemini nine crew did get a

0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:52.040
<v Speaker 1>triangular sunburn on his back in nineteen sixty three, though

0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.440
<v Speaker 1>astronaut Jen Sernin had been working on the exterior of

0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:58.120
<v Speaker 1>his spacecraft when the outer seams on his suit ripped,

0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:04.360
<v Speaker 1>exposing him to solar radiation. But what about those partially

0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:08.720
<v Speaker 1>transparent helmets. For these and for some of the attached visors,

0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:13.920
<v Speaker 1>designers use ultraviolet stabilized polycarbonate, which is a tough plastic

0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:18.040
<v Speaker 1>that protects astronauts faces from UV radiation. Without it, it

0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.720
<v Speaker 1>would leave the space travelers vulnerable to snowblindness and other

0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:24.680
<v Speaker 1>conditions that arise when UV waves damage parts of the

0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:29.840
<v Speaker 1>human eye. The risk of UV radiation goes way down

0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:34.039
<v Speaker 1>when astronauts are inside a spaceship. Aboard the International Space Station,

0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:37.440
<v Speaker 1>for example, astronauts regularly do their work in nothing but

0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:41.560
<v Speaker 1>ordinary cotton shirts and pants to protect them from sunburns.

0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:45.080
<v Speaker 1>The ISS uses UV blocking windows, as do most space

0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:51.120
<v Speaker 1>exploration vehicles, but UV radiation is in the only kind

0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.760
<v Speaker 1>of radiation that astronauts have to contend with on Earth

0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.640
<v Speaker 1>are planet's magnetic fields or magnetosphere protect us from other

0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:02.799
<v Speaker 1>ionizing radiation, like what's emitted from the Sun during solar flares,

0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.200
<v Speaker 1>or the cosmic rays that come from outside our solar system.

0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.400
<v Speaker 1>These can cause all kinds of problems in the human body.

0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:14.440
<v Speaker 1>A large dose and a short term, as with exposure to,

0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:18.000
<v Speaker 1>say a nuclear weapon, can cause symptoms from vomiting and

0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:22.480
<v Speaker 1>bleeding to immune system failure to death. Smaller doses over

0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.760
<v Speaker 1>a long term can cause cataracts, increased risk of cancers,

0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:29.839
<v Speaker 1>and permanent damage to our cardiovascular and central nervous systems.

0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:35.640
<v Speaker 1>And unfortunately, these types of space radiation are also more

0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:39.320
<v Speaker 1>difficult to control. As of now, we don't have good

0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.159
<v Speaker 1>ways to block them or mitigate their effects, even in

0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:46.000
<v Speaker 1>a spacesuit or on a space station. So right now

0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.360
<v Speaker 1>our best solution is to just not let astronauts stay

0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.360
<v Speaker 1>in space for too long. This is one of the

0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:55.200
<v Speaker 1>many problems that scientists will have to solve before we

0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:58.080
<v Speaker 1>can send people into space for longer missions, such as

0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:00.719
<v Speaker 1>a crude mission to Mars or for long work on

0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:04.479
<v Speaker 1>the Moon, and scientists are working on it. We just

0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:11.960
<v Speaker 1>have to stick closer to home for now. Today's episode

0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:14.479
<v Speaker 1>is based on the article do Astronauts meets on screen

0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.400
<v Speaker 1>and space on HowStuffWorks dot Com, written by Mark Mancini.

0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:20.280
<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how

0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:23.160
<v Speaker 1>stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four

0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.000
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:30.240
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.