Lack of Oxygen in Space Essay

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Total Length: 1635 words ( 5 double-spaced pages)

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Abstract



The human body reacts in direct and indirect ways when it is bombarded with or deprived of certain things. Space is a good example of somewhere where both of those things can happen concurrently. Indeed, the radiation that is prevalent throughout space is one example. However, the general lack of oxygen is perhaps a bigger issue. Oxygen is one of the core parts of the water molecule. It is also a primary component of the air that humans breathe, along with nitrogen and a few other atoms types. Because of this, it is wise to know what happens to the human body in an area that is devoid of oxygen. The astronauts that have gone up there have worn special suits while doing so for a reason. Even with the protective measures that have been and continue to be taken, it is still true that the lack of atmosphere and oxygen that is present in space has seemingly affected astronauts in negative ways.

Lack of Oxygen in Space



Even though there have not been a lot of man-hours logged in space relative to what has happened with other paradigms and fields of study, there is little doubt that the body is most certainly affected in numerous, and often negative, ways when it is in an area that has no oxygen. This has been studied and verified to a good degree by government agencies like NASA as well as many colleges and other scholarly institutes, agencies and groups. This report shall explore and summarize what is currently known about the topic. While there are worse scenarios and situations that a body can be subjected to, an oxygen-void area is not a place someone should want to be for very long without protection and preparation.

Analysis



One scholarly institution that has studied the affects of lack of oxygen in space on the human body is the University of California at Santa Barbara, or UCSB. Even with the fact that protective suits are worn whenever humans are in safe, the obvious question is what would happen if those suits were not present. The answer, of course, is as obvious as the question. Any unprotected human in space would die and they would die quickly. Even if that were not true, something else that would surely kill any person floating in space is the temperature. Indeed, the space that exists around the Earth and the Moon is very cold. The human body would not be handle that, at least not for long. Just how long this torture would last would depend on the precise situation.

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This would include where precisely around the moon or the Earth and its atmospheres the person is, whether there is direct sunlight and a few other things. To help prove the point about lack of air, one should think about airplanes. Of course, airplanes have emergency oxygen masks that drop out of the top compartments should there be a depressurization or some other event. This is mainly due to the fact that planes fly rather high and the air in these higher altitudes is rather thin as compared to when is lower. Even people on the ground in mountainous regions like Denver metro and other places can clearly notice that the air is thinner than in places that are lower from a sea level/elevation standpoint. Since the difference in oxygen presence is so much more dramatic in space as compared to different levels of elevation on the Earth or the moon, what would actually happen is that the air in the human’s lungs would be sucked out and the human would start suffocating almost immediately. It would certainly kill the human much faster than the cold temperatures would (UCSB, 2018).



An organization known as IFL Science is a little more explicit and specific when it comes to what would happen to a human floating in space without a spacesuit. Even with the fact that the atmosphere of the Earth is not impervious to the Sun, to space and so forth, a lot of protection is offered. A lot of the ultraviolet (UV) rays and so forth that fly throughout space are mitigated greatly, if not eliminated, by the protective atmosphere of the Earth. This would not be present at all if a person was in space. One thing that would happen pre-death to someone that is exposed to the oxygen-less void of space is known as ebullism. This is the technical term for when there is the formation of bubbles of body fluids due to the unequal pressure that exists between a human body and the void of space. It is along the same lines of….....

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References

Gosline, A. (2008). Survival in Space Unprotected Is Possible--Briefly. Scientific American. Retrieved 28 February 2018, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/survival-in-space-unprotected-possible/

IFL Science. (2018). What Would Happen To Your Body In Space Without A Spacesuit?. IFLScience. Retrieved 28 February 2018, from http://www.iflscience.com/space/what-would-happen-your-body-space-without-spacesuit/

UCSB. (2018). UCSB Science Line. scienceline.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 28 February 2018, from http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=1165
 

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