- 3 hours ago
Embark on a captivating journey through two fascinating revelations about space. Discover why astronauts refrain from washing their clothes and unravel the intriguing concept of a dedicated time zone for the Moon. Explore the unique challenges and peculiarities that exist beyond our planet in this eye-opening video.
Category
🎈
FunTranscript
00:01Put on your shades because Mercury is a hotspot.
00:04From the surface of this planet, the sun looks three times bigger than it does from Earth,
00:09and the light is 11 times brighter.
00:12Mercury may spin slower than Earth, but it still knows how to have a good time.
00:17One day on this planet lasts a whopping 59 Earth days.
00:22But don't worry, a year on Mercury is only 88 Earth days long,
00:26so if you want to feel like a centenarian, just divide your age by 0.25 or multiply it by
00:324.
00:33This way, you'll get your approximate Mercurian age. Easy peasy.
00:38And let's not forget about Mercury's funky orbit.
00:41For every two orbits around the sun, it spins twice.
00:44That means each hemisphere gets a full year of daylight followed by a long night.
00:50Time zones would be a mess on this planet, so we'll just stick to GMT.
00:56Ugh, did anyone forget to take out the trash?
00:59Why does it smell of rotten eggs in here?
01:01Uh, sorry, it's because we're on Venus now, and these stinky clouds don't smell like roses.
01:08Any planet's day is basically just how long it takes for it to do a full spin on its axis.
01:13Well, Venus takes its sweet time with this, way slower than Earth, in fact.
01:18So a day on Venus lasts a whopping 243 Earth days or almost 6,000 hours.
01:24Now here's where things get a bit tricky.
01:26Because Venus's day is so long, we actually use Earth's day as standard for keeping time on the planet.
01:31That means there's only one time zone for the whole planet.
01:34Seems convenient, huh?
01:37Venus's year is about 225 days.
01:40So if you were celebrating New Year's Eve on Earth in the year 2000, that would have been Venus's year
01:453251.
01:46So to keep track of time of Venus, we can use the local year, made up of 225 Earth days.
01:53But every three years or so, there's an extra short year made up of only 224 days.
01:59Not that confusing.
02:01We have leap years on Earth too, but it works a bit differently.
02:06We've made it to planet Earth.
02:08Woohoo!
02:08How many time zones do we have on this big blue ball?
02:11Give me a drum roll.
02:1424.
02:15And did you know that we can actually mess with time a little bit?
02:18Yup, in about 80 countries.
02:20Mostly in Europe and North America, we have something called Daylight Saving Time.
02:24It's where we move our clocks forward an hour during the summer so we can soak up all that sweet,
02:29sweet sunshine.
02:31But beware.
02:32Each country has its own rules about DST.
02:35So make sure you don't get caught snoozing when you're supposed to be working.
02:38And get this.
02:39Some regions even have time zones that differ from UTC by half or quarter hour increments.
02:46Can you imagine that the moon is getting its own time zone?
02:51The European Space Agency announced on Monday that it's time for the moon to have its own synchronized time zone.
02:58With more and more countries and private companies planning missions to our lunar neighbor,
03:03it's important that we all speak the same language when it comes to timekeeping.
03:09Right now, each mission carries Earth's coordinated universal time with it.
03:14Which is fine when there are only a few missions happening at once.
03:18But with dozens of moon missions planned over the next few years, things are going to get tricky.
03:23We need a system in place to make sure everyone's on the same page.
03:27Or we'll end up with different spacecraft out of sync with each other and nobody wants that kind of chaos
03:32in space.
03:34Precise timekeeping is super important for communication and navigation.
03:38So we need to figure out a way to make sure everyone's on the same page.
03:43The ESA hasn't figured out exactly what form this new lunar time zone will take.
03:48But they're working on it.
03:50Should there be a single organization responsible for keeping lunar time?
03:54Or should we let the moon set its own time?
03:58And what about more granular time zones based on the sun's position?
04:01These are all important questions that need to be answered.
04:06When it comes to a day on Mars, it's not too different from a day on Earth.
04:10We're talking 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds.
04:15A Martian year is 1.8 Earth years, which means the Earth year 2000 happened in Martian year 1063.
04:22Almost forgot.
04:24The Martian year has 668 local days.
04:28Phew!
04:29We sorted out the Martian calendar, but Mars will need local time zones.
04:33Because of its elongated orbit, the difference between summer and winter hours will be significant.
04:39Daylight saving time will be a thing on Mars.
04:44A year on Jupiter lasts almost 12 Earth years.
04:47Yeah, that's like a lifetime in dog years.
04:49But don't worry, they've got 12 seasons to keep things interesting.
04:54Each almost as long as an Earth year.
04:56But a day on Jupiter only lasts 9 hours and 55 minutes.
04:59Also, since Jupiter doesn't have a solid surface, the clouds move at different speeds,
05:04so two free-floating atmospheric stations could experience different days.
05:09Hey, if we lived on Jupiter, we'd be in bad need of some cool app tracking all those things.
05:16Anyway, if we ever terraform Jupiter's region, most of the population will still live on Jupiter's moons.
05:22Because the atmosphere is just too wild.
05:25And get this, the moons' revolution periods are connected.
05:28So we can use the same day counting system for all of them.
05:33On Io, we can have two standard Jovian days in one Earth day.
05:37How do we break that down?
05:39Well, we could have a minute of 53 seconds and an hour of 103 minutes.
05:44Or we could just stick with Earth's minute and hour and have a day that's 21 hours and 13 minutes
05:49long.
05:51How old are you?
05:52I'm 200 days old, and you?
05:54Sounds odd to you, Earth-dweller, but dudes on Saturn count their age in days.
05:59A year on Saturn is crazy long, like more than 29 Earth years.
06:03Kiddos would only get a fraction of a year, while the oldest folks might get a whopping 3 years.
06:08So to keep track of time on Saturn, we could divide up a Saturnian year into 29 or 30 seasons.
06:15Oh, and fun fact, Saturn doesn't even have a solid surface, just rotating clouds that spin at different speeds.
06:23But we could still set up some cool research stations or helium extraction balloons to float around up there.
06:29One Uranian year lasts a whopping 84 Earth years.
06:33So, to make things easier, we'll stick to using Earth years for our calculations.
06:39And natural Uranian years can be used for special occasions, like reaching one Uranian year old.
06:45As Uranus doesn't have a solid surface, the rotation period is all over the place.
06:50Only science missions and helium mining companies are brave enough to venture into the atmosphere.
06:56And get this, each moon has its own day and date system.
07:00Pretty confusing.
07:02Most people won't ever celebrate one Neptunian year old.
07:06One year on Neptune is like that's way too long for us humans to stick around.
07:10But don't worry, we'll still bust out the confetti and party hats for special occasions,
07:15like when it's been two whole years since the first spaceship hit up Neptune.
07:19As for the rest of the time, we'll just use Earth years for all our business needs.
07:25Pluto takes a whopping 240 Earth years to orbit the Sun,
07:29which is way too long to use as a year in our everyday lives.
07:33A day on Pluto is almost like a week on Earth.
07:36So, to keep track of time, we're going to divide that into six standard Plutonian days,
07:41three of light and three of dark.
07:43That means a standard day on Pluto will last slightly more than one Earth day.
07:47Now, because Pluto's axis is super tilted, using time zones would be pointless.
07:53So, we'll just use one time zone for the whole system.
07:56Easy peasy.
07:58As for the standard Plutonian year, it'll be almost the same as the Earth year.
08:02About 343 days.
08:05But once in 10 years, we'll throw in an extra day just for kicks.
08:09That's all for now. See you on Pluto.
08:11The profession of an astronaut is probably one of the most intriguing and mysterious out there.
08:17But have you ever wondered about the details of their everyday life?
08:21Like what's going on under those bulky spacesuits?
08:24I mean, some people seriously believe that astronauts wear paper underwear.
08:29Others are sure that a lack of gravity allows the grime to just float away.
08:33If only.
08:34The thing is, astronauts don't do laundry. At all.
08:38In 2011, NASA commissioned a washing machine for the International Space Station.
08:43Was it a joke?
08:44In any case, astronauts couldn't use it for apparent reasons.
08:48Delivering water to the ISS just to do laundry sounds outrageous and super costly.
08:54So, astronauts can only dream of freshly laundered linens and other stuff.
08:59Instead, fresh clothes get delivered to the station from Earth, just like any other supplies.
09:04Unfortunately, it happens not that often since the price of launching literally anything into space is exorbitant.
09:12So, astronauts have to wear their clothes for way longer than they would otherwise do on Earth.
09:18The only thing that makes this situation a bit better is that astronauts tend to lose some of their sense
09:24of smell in space.
09:25When interviewed, some astronauts admitted wearing, for example, the same pair of shorts for months and only changing their underwear
09:32once every three or four days.
09:36It's probably not surprising that astronauts dress not to impress, but for comfort and convenience.
09:42Their typical attire usually consists of short-sleeved shirts and long cargo pants.
09:48Those are regular clothes we wear on Earth, nothing special.
09:52But when they leave the climate-controlled insides of the ISS, of course, they need special clothes.
09:58By that, I mean those very chunky spacesuits.
10:01They protect astronauts from insane temperature swings ranging from 250 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun to minus 250 degrees in
10:10the shade.
10:11But even with all this protection and cooling tubes wicking away body heat, spacewalks tend to cause astronauts to work
10:18up a sweat.
10:19Wearing an EVA, which stands for extravehicular activities, can mean hours of hard work.
10:26And don't forget that astronauts often wear layers to stay warm and pressurized.
10:31And these layers include an inner form-fitting item of clothing that resembles long underwear.
10:36This item is often reworn and even shared.
10:40And since there are no washing machines on the ISS, you get the point, right?
10:45An interesting fact, there is a specially trained person who smells every single thing that astronauts take with them into
10:52space.
10:53It's done to protect them from unpleasant or toxic odors.
10:56The thing is that you can't really air the room out there in space if you don't like how it
11:02smells inside.
11:03That's why NASA is very careful about what kind of odors can pass through.
11:07At the same time, nothing can prevent the smells that appear already on the ISS.
11:14Anyway, spacesuits and what's underneath them are used again and again.
11:18And soon you start worrying not only about bad smells, but also about hygiene and health problems.
11:24An alarming possibility of biocontamination arises.
11:28It includes bacteria, body fluids, and other foreign substances.
11:32It gets worse if we think about longer missions.
11:35For instance, to the moon.
11:37At the same time, it's totally impractical to wash spacesuit interiors on a consistent basis.
11:43Water is too valuable on the ISS to waste it on something so mundane.
11:49That's why NASA, along with the European Space Agency and other organizations,
11:54asked specialists to develop fabrics that could solve the problem of biocontamination in suits.
12:00You see, during the shuttle program conducted by NASA,
12:03spacesuits were supposed to be used on quite short two-week trips.
12:07But then, astronauts started living on the ISS for much longer periods of time.
12:12That's why the spacesuit's lifespan had to be extended up to six years.
12:17No wonder microbes became a much more worrying issue than before.
12:22So, more than a decade ago, a team of experts began to research different methods
12:27of getting rid of microbes and bacteria dwelling in spacesuits.
12:30They cut textiles in two-inch squares and put them in petri dishes
12:34and grew a few species of fungi and bacteria on these samples.
12:38Some of the fabrics they used were infused with copper.
12:42This substance has impressive antimicrobial properties.
12:45When bacteria touch this element, their cell walls and membranes get destabilized.
12:50The metals' ions damage microbes, making them more vulnerable.
12:55NASA scientists also tried using textiles treated with silicone and silver.
12:59The latter turned out to be as toxic to germs on contact as copper.
13:05After observing the stuff that had grown on the fabrics for the past 14 days,
13:10the researchers discovered that only one compound had managed to keep bacteria and fungi at bay.
13:16It was a solution of silver molecules normally used for disinfecting hospital dressings and other stuff.
13:23But the ions of this metal turned out to be too good at their job because they got rid of
13:28everything, literally.
13:30And total sterility could do more harm than good.
13:34We need a balanced ecosystem consisting of millions of microorganisms to keep our organs and skin healthy.
13:40In 2022, NASA hired US companies Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to develop the next generation of spacesuits.
13:49And soon, a prototype suit appeared.
13:52It was designed to be used during the Artemis III mission.
13:55The main goal of this voyage is to land a crew at the south pole of our natural satellite.
14:01These spacesuits are supposed to use textiles with antimicrobial properties that can potentially reduce biocontamination.
14:08The cooling system of these suits will also add biocides in its water loops, which will help prevent microbial buildup.
14:16Now let's talk about spacesuits in more detail.
14:19To begin with, there are actually two main types of spacesuits.
14:22You've probably seen the advanced crew escape suit, a.k.a. the orange suit, a.k.a. the pumpkin suit.
14:30Astronauts wear this full-pressure suit during takeoff, or rather, lift-off, since we're talking about a spaceship.
14:36These suits are irreplaceable for those who are heading for super-high altitudes.
14:41There, the pressure is so low that people can't survive without a special protective suit.
14:46And while air crews wear partial-pressure suits, space crews have to be protected by full-pressure suits.
14:52After all, they travel way, way higher.
14:55The suit is also equipped with lots of things that can help an astronaut survive emergencies during a spaceship launch
15:02or landing.
15:03A regular pumpkin suit is stocked with flares, medications, survival gear, a radio, and a parachute.
15:10So, in short, astronauts couldn't live through the process of leaving Earth without the orange suit.
15:16But why did its designers choose this hue?
15:19The main reason for picking the orange color is that this hue is one of the most visible for search
15:25and rescue, including very probable sea rescue.
15:29As for EVAs, their purpose is different.
15:33Astronauts wear these suits when they set off on spacewalks.
15:36It can protect them from the severe conditions of outer space with its extreme temperatures and near vacuum.
15:42Plus, the space suit can prevent small debris from hurting space travelers.
15:47You've probably noticed that EVA suits are much bulkier than the orange ones.
15:52That's because they have many layers of insulation and heavy protective fabric.
15:57They also contain breathable air, drinkable water, and temperature controls.
16:01Now, every time an astronaut goes on a spacewalk, they use a tether that ties them to the space station.
16:08And in case the tether breaks, the EVA suit has a backup system.
16:12This system includes small jet thrusters which can be controlled from the station with the help of a joystick.
16:19As for the color, first of all, white reflects the heat of the sun better than other colors.
16:24And astronauts don't get too hot.
16:27Plus, the white color is the best when it comes to spotting the tiny dot of an astronaut against the
16:32vast expanse of black space.
16:34Another curious detail.
16:36While white space suits protect astronauts from getting too hot, they can't prevent them from getting too cold.
16:43And that's when special gloves come into play.
16:45They have special heaters which keep astronauts' fingers cozy and functioning.
16:52We interrupt this program to bring you this important message.
16:55The Earth is no longer fit for living, so you'll need to find your own new home.
17:00You immediately get the brilliant idea to apply for a job as an astronaut.
17:06You'll be able to wait over the hustle and bustle on the International Space Station until humanity finds a new
17:11home, right?
17:12The longest time a human has spent in space so far is 437 days and a few extra hours.
17:20And when I say in space, I mean the ISS.
17:23Because a human being without the proper equipment in open space would only last a few seconds.
17:30The ISS is designed to support human life in space for extended periods of time.
17:36Extended, but not endless.
17:38The station gets resupplied with food, water, air, fuel, scientific equipment, and other necessities every three months.
17:46With no Earth or humans to send the mission, this lifeline will soon be broken.
17:52The station is a huge ship moving through space at over 17,000 miles per hour.
17:57It faces pretty harsh conditions from radiation to micrometeoroids and huge temperature ups and downs.
18:04That's why the system regularly needs patching up.
18:07In addition to wear and tear, there are also unexpected events that can require resupply missions.
18:13In 2020, the crew discovered a leak that was causing a gradual loss of air pressure.
18:20They eventually found cracks in one of the modules.
18:23The crew managed to fix it, but it proves how important it is to have enough spare parts on board.
18:30Let's say the future humans will manage to find a way to run the station non-stop without restocking.
18:36Astronauts already grow plants in space in closed boxes with low-energy LED lights.
18:43It's not only a source of vitamins, without which humans can't survive, but a great mood booster.
18:49We'd also need more advanced closed-loop life support systems to recycle air and water efficiently.
18:56It's a system that captures carbon dioxide from the air by passing it through small beads.
19:01Then, it uses steam to separate the carbon dioxide and transform it into methane and water.
19:08Water then divides back into oxygen.
19:11But even with all the possible advances, there's another problem.
19:15The help of the astronauts.
19:17They live and work in a microgravity environment, and they rely on carefully controlled life support systems.
19:25But our bodies aren't designed to live in weightlessness forever.
19:28It's like standing on your head, because the reduced gravity makes bodily fluids accumulate in the upper parts of your
19:35body.
19:35The result is a puffy red face.
19:38The gravitational force on the ISS is weaker than on Earth, so muscles don't have to work as hard, and
19:44bones gradually lose their density.
19:46That's why each crew member follows a strict daily exercise routine.
19:51The heart muscle also weakens, because it doesn't have to use as much effort to circulate blood throughout the body.
19:57Without Earth's protective atmosphere, astronauts are continuously exposed to cosmic rays.
20:03They are invisible waves that can cause some serious health issues.
20:07So maybe we're better off opting for Mars or the Moon for an alternative home.
20:12Let's do this in the video.
20:12Let's take a look at the questions and check if someone asks.
20:12This is a good start.
Comments