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The Earth is constantly bombarded by matter from space. Is there any risk of high velocity dust particle/micro-object (cosmic garbage e.g.) impact on astronauts while in outer space?

What chance is there to be hit by such small but energetic objects and what would be the consequences?

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    $\begingroup$ The suits used for EVA have a micro meteroite protection of multiple thin layers. Hopefully the dust particles do not damage the inner layers of the suit, especially the layer holding the pressure of the breathing gas. $\endgroup$ – Uwe Aug 3 '18 at 15:49
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It's a risk.

The danger has been calculated as follows:

We computed the risk for a peak year of EVA activity, assumed by NASA to consist of 624 hours of EVA exposure. For that time period, we found that, the probability of a fatality is about 1.4x10-3 without shielding and 1.1x10-3 per 624 hours of EVA with shielding.

Currently there is no shielding. (It wouldn't seem to help much based on these numbers)

source: Risks of particle hits during space walks in low Earth orbit

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  • $\begingroup$ Samples of EVA suit materials may be exposed to space at the ISS and later inspected for damages by particles. Was a test like this done using the ISS? $\endgroup$ – Uwe Aug 5 '18 at 10:38

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