Questions tagged [astronauts]
Questions regarding people present on spacecraft or space stations.
201
questions
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Could the Apollo astronauts distinguish Earth's continents and oceans from the moon?
This article "Earthshine Reflects Earth's Oceans And Continents From The Dark Side Of The Moon" indicates that the difference in reflection of light from the Earth’s land masses and oceans can be seen ...
28
votes
1answer
4k views
Did the astronauts seated on the space shuttle mid-deck have responsibilities during reentry and landing?
Space Shuttle mid-deck, it doesn't look like there is much for the astronauts there to do.
I recognize this photo was not taken during a mission.
I couldn't find an image of the mid-deck during ...
1
vote
0answers
90 views
Is it possible for a petroleum engineering graduate to become an astronaut? If not, why so? If I can, what should I learn or do then? [closed]
So the question pretty much says it all. I would really appreciate it if you guys can give some detailed explanations here for why I might or might not be able to become an astronaut. And also, feel ...
3
votes
1answer
158 views
Loose items in Apollo CM during reentry?
Would there have been any danger to the astronauts or the equipment if a soft item, like a crumpled up napkin or tissue, was loose during the Apollo CM reentry, or did everything have to be secured?
2
votes
2answers
6k views
Does the speed of ISS slow down at the time of a spacewalk or does it become stationary?
The International Space Station (ISS) is orbiting at nearly 7.66 km/s. At such high speeds, how do astronauts perform tasks outside the ISS? Or is it all relative like astronauts are having same speed ...
3
votes
1answer
200 views
When during the flights did astronauts use the Valsalva device?
A spongy material is installed to the inside helmets called the Valsalva device (top right in this image)
allow astronauts to do the Valsalva maneuver to relieve pressure on their eardrums when there ...
2
votes
1answer
121 views
Is there an alternate term to “fired” for the Reaction Control System?
Do the astronauts use any word, other than "fired" when referring to the use of the Reaction Control System for attitude control or translation?
1
vote
1answer
49 views
Astronauts and Time Dilation
Do astronauts experience any effects of time dilation? Based on my (very limited) understanding, both a change in speed and in gravity should have an effect - and astronauts experience both. The ...
6
votes
1answer
384 views
Do astronauts develop the ability to regularly place an object at rest inside the ISS after extended periods in microgravity?
This image from the ESA
prompted the question why the fruits at the bottom left were not floating. An online response claimed after an extended time on the ISS astronauts get used to placing ...
4
votes
1answer
111 views
What does S represent in Chris Hadfield's D = ½ ρ v² S?
Retired test pilot, CSA astronaut and ISS Commander Chris Hadfield's new Master Class advertisement video Chris Hadfield Teaches Space Exploration - Official Trailer - MasterClass is heavily edited ...
2
votes
1answer
116 views
Is retired astronaut Scott Kelly now the same height as his brother?
In WIRED's new video Astrophysicist Explains One Concept in 5 Levels of Difficulty | WIRED "Astrophysicist Janna Levin, PhD, is asked to explain the concept of gravity to 5 different people; a child, ...
1
vote
0answers
58 views
What are current epidemiologic standards for space?
In the recent Mars series by National Geographic I've seen that an astronaut dies from a brain tumor because it "was not part of screening".
Now could this be real and what are health standards for ...
4
votes
1answer
129 views
Exactly how does one lope on the Moon?
This answer includes several quotes from apollo astronauts that have walked on the moon. They describe a form of bipedal locomotion they call loping.
Question: Exactly how does one lope on the Moon? ...
3
votes
1answer
94 views
What biomedical data indicated Apollo astronauts were sleeping?
What particular biomedical data did NASA use to determine if an Apollo astronaut was awake or asleep?
From the APOLLO 11 MISSION COMMENTARY, page 72/1
"Our Flight Surgeon reported a short while ago ...
6
votes
1answer
179 views
Were flown lunar rover miniature license plates approved for the Apollo-15 flight?
A page in Space Flown Artifacts
describes miniature lunar rover license plates that Dave Scott carried to the moon and back:
These miniature license plates were manufactured by Boeing (makers of ...
3
votes
1answer
102 views
How often did Apollo astronauts wear red helmets?
Images of NAsA astronaut David R. Scott performing a spacewalk during Apollo 9 show a red helmet.
When did NASA's use of red-colored helmets begin, and when did it end, and was there a special name ...
92
votes
1answer
17k views
Who was the first human to sleep - perchance to dream - on the Moon?
Incidentally I don't mean "on the lunar surface, asleep laying on the surface of the moon" :)
So (A) who (if anyone) was the first human to actually be asleep (that is to say, presumably inside the ...
5
votes
1answer
329 views
What is the procedure for scheduling on the ISS if an astronaut oversleeps?
From the accepted answer to this question there have been times when astronauts have overslept.
The morning started disastrously. I slept through two alarms, one set for 0600 and another a half-...
29
votes
4answers
10k views
Did any astronauts on a mission complain about waking up?
A bit of a strange question that comes from "The Martian" - in Chapter 12 is a sequence about the entire crew waking up and some complaining about it. I would expect that on a 31 day mission every ...
5
votes
1answer
608 views
Seeing the ground from the shuttle before launch?
With the side windows in space shuttle cockpit, as seen in this photograph,
could the commander and pilot see the ground at all before launch or during the first 10-15 seconds of a shuttle ascent?
...
2
votes
0answers
101 views
Unusual position of shuttle astronauts' arms during ascent
During the ascent of STS-135 the astronauts seem to be keeping their elbows up away from their sides with their hands forward. It can be seen throughout the ascent, here are two clips when it happens....
2
votes
1answer
215 views
How was the deep blue colour of these astronaut “jump suits” selected?
I've seen most of the time Astronauts and/or Cosmonauts wearing blue coloured clothes either on Earth or in the ISS. Is there any specific reason for the choice of this colour? I think it's to show ...
1
vote
2answers
98 views
What are these Soyuz Astronauts/Cosmonauts holding in their hands before launch? [duplicate]
What are these Soyuz Astronauts/Cosmonauts holding in their left hands before launch? I suspect it must be the pump for the active cooling system by pumping water similar to those in EVA suits, but it ...
1
vote
0answers
50 views
I'm two metres tall. Do I have a chance to be an astronaut? [duplicate]
I am sixteen years old, athletic and very willing to learn to be an astronaut. The only problem is that I am two metres tall. While being tall is great in life, from what I have learned it isn't quite ...
6
votes
1answer
265 views
What protocol is in place if an astronaut kills another astronaut in or around the ISS?
Say one astronaut murders another astronaut in or around the ISS, what would happen? Are there any protocols or instructions about what to do?
Calling the space police does not seem like an option.
5
votes
1answer
168 views
Do astronauts use their toes to grip with in zero gravity?
Feet and toes are not usually as dexterous as hands and fingers but they can grip and hold things. With training and practice they can be like third and fourth hands. Are there any astronauts who make ...
13
votes
5answers
3k views
What is the difference between an astronaut in the ISS and a freediver in perfect neutral buoyancy?
For example, does the blood of the freediver accumulates in his/her head while being upside down, as it would on land, or not, as it would in microgravity environment ?
2
votes
1answer
116 views
Which Apollo 12 astronaut is shown examining the Surveyor 3 lander in this photograph?
I used this image in Exactly what was Surveyor 3 doing with a spring-loaded boxing glove-like device? but in the captions for the image on two NASA sites I noticed a disagreement in the identify of ...
6
votes
2answers
212 views
Identify these astronauts
In December 2017 former astronaut Janet Kavandi tweeted a picture of a group of women astronauts taken at an astronaut reunion.
There are nine of them I can't identify, can anyone name them? I've ...
2
votes
0answers
97 views
Experiments during ascent
Has any astronaut or cosmonaut personally performed experiments, that could only be done by a human in flight, during the ascent phase of a flight. If so, what kind of experiment(s) did they perform?
5
votes
1answer
137 views
Has an IV even been performed or attempted in space?
As many of you likely know, IV's are an important part of modern medicine. As more and more people go into space for longer periods, I would imagine it may become necessary for an IV to be ...
4
votes
1answer
195 views
Who was the first person in space to “be on TV”?
The Apollo missions had video cameras and transmitted live images to Earth, but I am not sure if there were any video transmission prior to the Apollo 11.
Question: Who was the first person in space ...
1
vote
1answer
83 views
When did an astronaut in space first see someone on a TV screen?
The Apollo missions had video cameras and transmitted live images to Earth. But what about the other direction -- astronauts seeing live images of people on Earth?
Question: When did an astronaut in ...
13
votes
2answers
880 views
How long were the Apollo astronauts allowed to breathe 100% oxygen at 1 atmosphere continuously?
This answer explains that from the time they suited up "in the Suit Lab before launch" until the time the capsule started depressurizing during ascent, the Apollo astronauts were breathing 100% oxygen ...
8
votes
1answer
689 views
Astronaut distance from Earth?
After the Apollo Missions, what is the farthest that any country has sent astronauts into space (distance from Earth)?
1
vote
2answers
123 views
To which ISS astronaut(s) did Trevor Noah speak?
In the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon video Trevor Noah Spoke to Astronauts in Space at NASA after about 02:10, talk show host, author and comedian Trevor Noah ...
16
votes
1answer
4k views
Were Apollo astronauts charged for their berths during their missions?
In a recent article in The Guardian I ran into the following statement about the Apollo astronauts:
On their way to and from the moon, each earned $8 a day, minus a fee for a bed on their Apollo ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views
Are there any atheist or agnostic American astronauts, past or present?
Are there any atheist or agnostic American astronauts, past or present?
If no was this policy? (If no how did that happen and is there a policy going forward?)
Yes these are three questions but they ...
3
votes
0answers
139 views
Do astronauts on the ISS have to consciously keep their arms down?
After seeing many images of astronauts on the ISS sleeping, with their arms floating,
and Chris Hadfield describing arms floating up and head titling forward How Do You Sleep In Space? | Video I ...
38
votes
3answers
8k views
Are there any vegetarian astronauts?
Following this question and other food-related questions, including on Quora, I failed to see mention of a meal without meat or fish. I suppose:
It is technically possible to have healthy vegetarian ...
8
votes
2answers
1k views
What do astronauts eat for pre-flight breakfast?
I’m currently reading W. David Wood’s rather excellent “How Apollo Flew To The Moon” which details the technological development and execution in reaching the moon with the Apollo program.
Part of ...
2
votes
1answer
163 views
How to become an astronaut?
I am a pure/applied mathematics student at Tehran University. About 2 or 3 years later I will get my bachelor's degree and start studying master's in applied math or theoretical physics. And maybe I ...
2
votes
2answers
138 views
Do astronauts floating in space experience disorientation and how do they overcome it?
Sometimes we experience confusion where the north or south is especially when we are lying down or just awoken from sleep. Do astronauts experience something similar in space? If so, how do they ...
3
votes
1answer
183 views
Is the term 'lead head' used by astronauts?
In an article on the Space.com website, the author states "Very few astronauts have what's called the 'lead head'--immune from space adaptation syndrome or space sickness."
I couldn't find any other ...
5
votes
1answer
145 views
Aspects of “true deep space environment” on Gateway not thoroughly explored by decades of habitation of nine space stations already?
The ABC News article President Trump prompts state of confusion over space policy with tweet covers POTUS' tweet and NASA director Bridenstine's clarification tweet a few hours later, as well as cites ...
11
votes
1answer
2k views
What do astronauts do with their trash on the ISS?
Astronauts often stay more than a year on the ISS, they produce trash like any other human. Is there like a limit that they may produce ever day or maybe some measures were put in place to reduce the ...
13
votes
2answers
2k views
Did any “washouts” of the Mercury program eventually become astronauts?
The movie The Right Stuff portrays several dozen candidates for Project Mercury, who are eventually culled down to the final seven astronauts.
Did any of the unsuccessful candidates for the Mercury ...
5
votes
2answers
773 views
Can there be color blind astronauts?
This answer begins with:
It appears to have actually been a pole, not a cord.
Handrails and handholds, colored blue for quick identification, were
located throughout Skylab.
...
4
votes
0answers
113 views
How does European jurisdiction in the ISS works?
This answer notes that participant nations have jurisdiction over their modules. So in a US module, you are in US jurisdiction, etc.
Which means that in an European module, you are in European ...
5
votes
1answer
226 views
Does America's Birthright Citizenship law apply to the American side of the International Space Station?
In a scenario in which a pregnant Russian woman were to give birth while visiting the International Space Station, and if she were to give birth while on the American side of the ISS, would that baby ...
