The Challenges Astronauts Face Before And During Spacewalking, Know About Them Here

Recently, Kate Rubins and Jeff Williams made a spacewalk to install the international dock adapter. The astronauts just got out of their vehicle and floated in space. This is referred to spacewalking or also known as EVA, which stands for extravehicular activity.

So, how do astronauts go on spacewalks? The astronauts need to wear a spacesuit before they go on spacewalks. Spacesuit, which is also called Extravehicular Mobility Unit or EMU, operates with 100 percent oxygen instead of air. These space suits are pressurized to about 1/3 of atmospheric pressure., which means that the suits are filled with oxygen, during their spacewalks.

The astronauts wear the space suits to keep them safe. While wearing the spacesuits, the astronauts could breathe with oxygen filling the suits. The EMU contains two oxygen tanks that work with carbon dioxide removal system to allow a 6 to 8.5-hour spacewalk. They also have water to quench their thirst while having spacewalks, according to Spaceflight NASA.

The astronauts breathe pure oxygen for a few hours. This get rids of all the nitrogen in an astronaut's body. If they didn't purge the nitrogen, they might get gas bubbles in their bodies when their having spacewalking. This can cause pain in their shoulders, wrist, elbows and knees.

How to stay safe during spacewalks? The astronauts use safety tethers, which are like ropes that one end of it is hooked to the astronaut and the other is attached to the device. This is utilized to stay close to their spacecraft and to keep their tools from floating away. They are also kept protected by wearing a SAFER, which stands for Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue. This has small jet thrusters that let astronaut move around in space. It is worn like a backpack. If in case the astronaut were untethered and floated away, the SAFER would let the astronaut fly back to the spacecraft with a small joystick that controls the SAFER, according to NASA.

This is one of the most challenging parts. How do astronauts train for spacewalking? They are trained to practice spacewalks underwater in a swimming pool, which is called Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory or NBL. This huge pool contains 6.2 million gallons of water and the astronauts are trained for seven hours in the pool for each an hour they will spend on a spacewalk. They also practice spacewalk using virtual reality. They also wear the helmet and special gloves. In the video, they would really feel they are having a spacewalk.