How long can people survive on various planets without wearing space suits? Compare the data

Astronauts must wear their own spacesuits when operating in outer space. There cannot be any mistakes in this process. If there is any slight error in the spacesuits, it will be detrimental to the safety of the astronauts. All pose great threats. why is that?

Obviously, the space environment is extremely harsh and there is almost nothing to rely on. Common space suits will have pressurized air supply and life support systems to protect the safety of astronauts. If the space suit fails, the first problem a person will face in space is lack of oxygen, then the body fluids will boil, and finally they will turn into human-shaped ice cubes due to complete loss of heat.

Even if it is placed on other planets in the solar system, astronauts can survive for a while, but the length of time is also different for different planets. How does the cosmic environment affect human life? What is the environment like on other planets? Why can't people explore other planets? What is the difference between gaseous planets and rocky planets?

This article will mainly answer these questions from the aspect of planetary environment data. The comparative data between planets is quite amazing. How long can people live on these planets without wearing space suits?

Let’s look at Mercury first. This is the planet closest to the sun. Its surface is very similar to the moon, and has vast plains and various craters. Scientists believe that this is a trace left in the early celestial motion, and the detector data shows that its geology has been deposited for a billion years, and early impacts have made its geographical environment more heterogeneous than other planets. change.

The impact caused violent bombardment changes on Mercury. Due to the lack of protection from the atmosphere, the surface of Mercury will be directly impacted by meteorites and comets. There was still a lot of volcanic activity here in the early days, but in the billion years after Mercury formed, such activity became less and less.

On the other hand, we know that Mercury's temperature changes are very exaggerated. The surface temperature can rise from minus 173 degrees Celsius to 427 degrees Celsius. In the most extreme places, the temperature gradient does not exceed about minus 90 degrees Celsius. This amazing performance is entirely attributed to Mercury's orbital system. It is too close to the sun, and its gravity cannot maintain its atmosphere, so Mercury cannot resist any potential threats.

According to existing observations, except for trace amounts of helium, there are no other identifiable atmospheric components on Mercury. In other words, if a person reaches Mercury without the protection of a spacesuit, it may turn into a piece of ice and may carbonize quickly due to different geographical locations. Even if you are in the right position and hold your breath, a person will die from extreme temperatures and lack of oxygen in less than 2 minutes.

Now let us turn to Venus, a magical planet. Among the eight planets in the solar system, only its rotation orbit is clockwise. Moreover, the mass and size of Venus are similar to those of the Earth, and its mass is about 81% of the Earth. In addition, its atmospheric composition contains a lot of sufficient carbon dioxide, and the rest is basically nitrogen.

We can see that Venus is actually not conducive to the survival of life, and this is not over yet. Due to the excess carbon dioxide and other trace element gases, and the fact that nitrogen and carbon dioxide here exist in a superfluid form, the surface of Venus is hotter than Mercury, with the highest temperature reaching 482 degrees Celsius. Among the dense carbon dioxide gas, Venus' clouds are also filled with sulfuric acid and ferric chloride. All of this makes the environment on Venus extremely harsh. If a person comes to Venus without the protection of a spacesuit, it will be like coming to an oven.

The super surface pressure can crush a person within seconds and then turn him into charcoal. Of course, a general spacesuit cannot provide such protection. At the very least, it should have titanium alloy to complete basic protection.

Now come to Mars, which is the planet that humans are most likely to colonize in the future. Why do you say that? Although there is no atmosphere on Mars like the Earth, there is still a thin layer of atmospheric protection, which is very weak. And there are traces of liquid water on Mars. Scientists infer that there should still be liquid water under the Martian rock formations.

However, like other planets, the atmosphere of Mars is basically composed of carbon dioxide, and negligible amounts of nitrogen and oxygen. Moreover, there are often sandstorms on Mars, and weathering turns rocks into fine particles and dust. Mars has become what it is today. In addition to environmental effects (non-habitable zone), its own gravity is not high, so it cannot retain an atmosphere.

Therefore, people who come to Mars in casual clothes will first suffer from the low pressure and cold of Mars.

Since the surface pressure of Mars is already below the "Armstrong limit", the boiling point of water has become very low, far lower than human body temperature. Then the person will feel that all the fluids in the body are rapidly evaporating, and eventually die of suffocation and hypothermia. The whole process happens very quickly, and a person will die in about 2 minutes.

Okay, we have finished talking about terrestrial rocky planets. Let’s skip the earth directly. Even without a spacesuit, the longest breath-holding time for humans under water can reach 10 minutes, unless we want to hold our breath on the earth. Kill yourself. Next, let’s take a look at what gaseous planets are like.

The first gaseous planet to visit is Jupiter, which is the largest planet in the solar system. It is mainly composed of gas and liquid. Except for the dense inner core, it can be regarded as some kind of solid. Nothing solid.

Jupiter's atmosphere is composed of layers of various gases, including hydrogen, helium and trace amounts of methane, water vapor and ammonia, among which the most abundant are hydrogen and helium. As Jupiter's gas layer continues to penetrate deeper, the pressure becomes greater and greater, and the deeper you go, the more unusual the gas becomes. The gas in the middle layer becomes a "superfluid" state under the high-pressure environment, and the temperature will gradually increase as the gas layer deepens.

The pressure in the depths of Jupiter can turn elements into diamonds. The maximum internal temperature can reach 19,700 degrees Celsius, and the maximum pressure can reach 4,500 gigapascals. Since there is no place to land on Jupiter, coming to Jupiter will only cause it to continue to sink due to its strong gravity.

There is no space suit here that can guarantee the safety of the human body. Even in the outer atmosphere, the human body will be crushed instantly by its strong pressure, and the whole process does not even take 1 second. Then as the depth of the drop increases, the person may turn into a diamond.

The rest include Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These are all gaseous planets with huge pressure and very harsh environment. Just like Jupiter, no space suit can protect the human body from the impact of gas planets. People here will also suffer from fatal pressure and will become part of them in just 1 or 2 seconds.

Now it seems that only rocky planets are relatively better. However, the harsh environment still cannot support humans to survive for more than 3 minutes. Therefore, in current space missions, astronauts are limited to operating in the space station, the moon, and outer space. Since the existing technology cannot support humans to go further, and the protection of space suits is limited, it is difficult to conduct on-site inspections.

The most important point is that most of today's space suits are very bulky. The existence of pressurization function and life support system makes the space suits difficult to wear like daily clothes. Even with the newly developed spacesuits, the recommendation for astronauts is still to work no more than 6 hours. Scientists have been seeking a new solution, mainly involving research and development technologies in materials, structure, life support and other aspects.

It is not difficult to imagine how dangerous it is for astronauts to perform missions in space. Any slight error may lead to mission failure or death. There are also many accidents in history caused by space suit failure, but the human spirit of adventure and exploration has never been hindered by this. Since the Age of Discovery, human beings have never given up searching for unknown frontiers, and the same is true today.