Known Universe (2009) s03e01 Episode Script
Surviving Outer Space
NARRATOR: IF YOU WANT TO SURVIVE THE KNOWN UNIVERSE, SCIENTIST: David, you ready? DAVID: I'm not going to get any more ready than this.
NARRATOR: SPACE HAS A MESSAGE - BRING IT ON.
MIKE: This is some serious dark secrets that we're revealing here.
NARRATOR: WE'RE PUTTING OUR BODIES TO THE TEST BECAUSE SPACE HAS AN ARSONAL OF WEAPONS THAT WILL KILL US, EACH ONE WORSE THAN THE LAST.
FROM HEAD-SPINNING MICROGRAVITY DAVID: Wow.
I'm here, puking.
NARRATOR: TO EXTREME PRESSURE CHANGES STEVE: Temperature's dropping.
Whoa! NARRATOR: TO SOMETHING SO LETHAL IT WILL DESTROY US FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
DAVID: This would be a violent way to go.
NARRATOR: IT'S A GAME OF CA AND MOUSE IN THE VOID, AND OUR SURVIVAL IS THE PRIZE.
ON EARTH, WE LOVE LIVING ON THE EDGE.
BUT IN SPACE, THA EDGE IS RAZOR SHARP.
THE NARRATORID HAS AN ARMY OF ASSASSINS JUST WAITING TO TAKE US OUT.
FIRST UP, A FORCE WE'RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH HERE ON EARTH - GRAVITY.
Three, two, one, zero.
Liftoff.
Space shuttle Atlantis NARRATOR: BUT IN SPACE, THIS HARD-HITTING FOE CAN TAKE US DOWN.
IT'S WHAT ASTRONAUTS FACE EVERY TIME THEY TRY TO BREAK FREE OF OUR PLANET.
A CRUSHING FORCE THEY NEED TO BE READY FOR.
8 seconds.
Roll command.
Roll Command.
Roger roll, Disovery.
NARRATOR: HOW? AT FACILITIES LIKE THE NASTAR CENTER IN PENNSYLVANIA, THEY TRAIN FOR THE FIRST BATTLE IN THE WAR TO SURVIVE SPACE IN THE EXTREME GRAVITY OF A CENTRIFUGE.
THEORECTICAL PHYSICIS DAVID KAPLAN THINKS HE'S UP TO THE TASK.
HE'S NO ASTRONAUT, BUT HE'S ABOUT TO FIND OUT WHA IT TAKES TO BE ONE.
DAVID KAPLAN: Right now, I'm going to get into this centrifuge, something I've never been inside before.
I'm a little bit freaked out.
There's this concept of getting out of the Earth's gravity and so what I'm going to experience is a mass of about six times my weight down to my feet and then six times my weight through my back, like this.
NARRATOR: DAVID'S PREPARING TO BE HIT BY EXTREME G-FORCES.
ONE G IS EQUAL TO THE EARTH'S GRAVITY, BUT A HUMAN CENTRIFUGE PRODUCES MULTIPLE G'S WHEN I ACCELLERATES, PINNING ITS RIDER TO THEIR SEAT, JUST LIKE A ROLLER COASTER ON STEROIDS.
DAVID: I will try to make this a successful flight.
SCIENTIST: David, are you ready? DAVID: I'm ready.
SCIENTIST: David's ready.
DAVID: I'm not going to get more ready than this.
SCIENTIST: Checklist is good.
Firing sequence starts in 3, 2, 1 Alright, here we go.
DAVID: I feel my stomach, whoa! Holy XXXX! SCIENTIST: Good.
Just relax.
DAVID KAPLAN: My face is being smooched.
I feel the pressure on my cheeks.
Now it's moved to my chest.
Oh, my God.
Everything is very heavy.
Wow, it felt like something's gonna break my chest.
NARRATOR: SPINNING AT 26 RENARRATORLUTIONS PER MINUTE, DAVID'S BEING HIT WITH 6 G'S, MAKING IT FEEL LIKE HE'S CARRYING NEARLY 1,000 EXTRA POUNDS.
DAVID: Okay, my arm SCIENTIST: Don't hurt your arms.
Don't hurt your arms.
Alright, just relax for this part.
You've been working pretty hard in there.
Good, good job David.
DAVID: I feel almost human.
SCIENTIST: Pretty intense, huh? DAVID: That was intense.
SCIENTIST: Ok, how was it? DAVID: Um, I survived.
It was amazing.
Okay.
I have sea legs.
DAVID KAPLAN: The very first shot up was shocking.
Holy xxxx I didn't expect that much intensity.
I really felt my chest being crushed.
I thought this was going to be hard.
It was certainly the most physically intense thing I've ever done in my life.
NARRATOR: INTENSE SUPER GRAVITY IS JUST THE BEGINNING FOR AN ASTRONAUT.
BY THE TIME THEY REACH SPACE, ABOUT 60 MILES AWAY FROM EARTH'S SURFACE, THEY DO A 180 - THEY GO FROM 3 G'S TO ALMOST 0.
IT'S A BIG WEIGHT OFF THEIR CHEST, BUT JUST HOW BIG? ASTRONOMER ANDY HOWELL IS HEADING TO THE TRACK TO FIND OUT.
ANDY: I'm an astrophysicist, not an athlete, but this is for science.
NARRATOR: READY, SET, GO! ANDY'S RECORDING HIS MILE TIME HERE ON EARTH FIRST.
AND AS HE RACES AROUND THE TRACK, HE'S WORKING AGAINS EARTH'S GRAVITY.
MAN: Time.
ANDY: 8 minutes.
It's not my best time, but it's not my worst NARRATOR: BUT HIS NEXT STEP WILL MAKE HIM LIGHT AS A FEATHER.
TIME FOR A LITTLE RUN ON THE MOON.
ANDY HOWELL: Behind me is a machine that simulates lunar gravity.
It's only about a 1/6th of Earth's gravity.
Pretty sure that it will improve my mile time, but how much? Let's find out.
Alright, so this thing is inflating my pants.
It has to lift me off the treadmill basically so from my torso up, it's Earth's gravity but waist down, it's lunar gravity.
Alright, so the gravity's dialed down to about 1/5th of that of Earth's gravity.
It's a lot easier, I can tell you.
I'm not really breaking a sweat yet at all.
So, I like these things.
They should get one in my gym.
I could say, "hey, I just ran 10 miles today" and impress people but lunar running, not nearly as hard.
This must be what the astronauts felt like on the moon.
You just kind of really jump up in the air with every step.
One mile, 5 minutes.
Not too bad.
On Earth, it took me 8 minutes to run a mile.
Running on the anti-gravity treadmill improved my Earth mile time by almost 40%.
So on Earth, I'm a slow nerd, but on the moon, I'm a pretty good athlete.
NARRATOR: A FASTER MILE ISN' THE ONLY EFFECT OF LUNAR GRAVITY ON THE HUMAN BODY.
LOTS OF STRANGE THINGS BEGIN TO HAPPEN.
TO START WITH, YOU GET TALLER SINCE YOUR SPINE ELONGATES UP TO 2 TO 3 INCHES.
YOUR ORGANS AREN'T PULLED DOWN AND BEGIN TO FLOAT.
THEN THERE'S YOUR FLUIDS, WHICH RUSH FROM YOUR LEGS TO YOUR UPPER BODY.
THE INCREASED BLOODFLOW STRETCHES YOUR HEART, THEN THE EXCESS FLUIDS PUFF UP YOUR FACE AND CAUSE THE SINUSES AND BRAIN TO SWELL.
AND ALONG WITH ALL OF THIS, THE DECREASED GRAVITY AND YOUR SPACESUIT TURN YOUR RUN INTO WHAT ASTRONAUTS CALL THE BUNNY HOP.
THE MOON'S LOW GRAVITY MAY LOOK LIKE FUN, BUT AEROSPACE ENGINEERS, LIKE SIGRID CLOSE SIH-GRID, KNOW IT'S NO PARADISE.
SIGRID: We've evolved and we've adapted to live here on Earth under these types of conditions.
We go into space and it's a completely different environment there's microgravity.
NARRATOR: BECAUSE SPACE IS EMPTY, GRAVITY IS ALMOST NILL.
BUT IT'S NEVER FULLY GONE, SO ZERO G IS MORE ACCURATELY CALLED MICROGRAVITY, AND IT THROWS US FOR A PRETTY BIG LOOP.
SIGRID: Our bodies simply are not made to live in space and there are strong repercussions for living in a microgravity environment.
NARRATOR: MICROGRAVITY WRECKS HANARRATORC ON EVERYTHING WE DO TO SURVIVE - EATING, DIGESTING, EVEN, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, SEX.
IF TEARING OURSELVES AWAY FROM EARTH'S GRAVITY WAS ROUGH, LOSING IT ENTIRELY COULD PROVE TO BE OUR DOWNFALL.
SURVIVAL BEYOND EARTH'S PROTECTIVE BUBBLE IS A MASSIVE UNDERTAKING.
SPACE IS JUST WAITING TO WIPE US OFF THE MAP.
BUT ONCE WE GET THERE, ESCAPING GRAVITY DOESN'T SEEM TO BE MUCH OF A CONCERN, AS NASA ASTRONAUTS LIKE MIKE MASSIMINO CAN NARRATORUCH FOR.
MIKE: The first thing I did is took my helmet off and I floated right in front of it and sure enough stood right there.
I took my gloves off and boom, just floated right in front of it.
MAN: Mike.
Welcome to the wonderful world of space walking.
MIKE: This is incredible.
NARRATOR: MICROGRAVITY LOOKS LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE.
MARY: So there's this physical euphoria and you're just giddy.
It's this sense of being freed from a weight that you didn't know was there.
MAN 1: So this met your expectations? MAN 2: Exceeded.
MAN 1: Really? MAN 2: Definitely.
MAN 1: Well you're doing great.
.
NARRATOR: BUT THAT GIDDINESS USUALLY DOESN'T LAST LONG.
ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, ASTRONAUTS ARE CLUTCHING THEIR STOMACHS.
THEY'VE GOT SPACE SICKNESS, AND IT'S NOT A PRETTY SIGHT.
MARY: What sets space motion sickness apart is the rapidity of which it comes on.
Sometimes what happens is you work at a task, a crewmate comes by, is upside down, and you look at that person and it just instantly makes you ill and you throw up.
NARRATOR: THE PROBLEMS BEGIN WITH THE 'OTOLITHS' SMALL STRUCTURES IN THE INNER EAR, WHICH HELP THE BODY MAINTAIN EQUILIBRIUM.
BUT ONCE IN MICROGRAVITY, THESE TINY SENSORS HAVE NO CONCEP OF WHAT'S UP OR WHAT'S DOWN.
AND NASA DOCTORS KNOW THIS DRIVES ASTRONAUTS CRAZY.
JIM: The primary sense is the visual sense, ok? So we look up; we know that's the ceiling and that's the floor.
The problem is in space, now all of a sudden all your visual reference is telling you yes, that is still the ceiling, that is still the floor, but your otoliths are telling you something different every time you move your head.
NARRATOR: TO PREPARE ASTRONAUTS FOR GETTING DAZED AND CONFUSED, FLIGHTS SPECIALISTS HAVE COME UP WITH A STOMACH-CHURNING TRAINING EXERCISE.
TO SEE HOW IT WORKS, DAVID KAPLAN IS BACK FOR MORE ABUSE AT NASTAR IN PENNSYLVANIA.
HE'S GOING TO CLIMB ABOARD A SPINNING SIMULATOR THAT WILL SEND HIM ROLLING IN EVERY WHICH WAY IMAGINABLE.
DAVID KAPLAN: There are two stages in getting me sick.
The first thing that happens is I get inside the disorientation chamber and the thing is going to spin around on different axis.
The second thing that'll happen is I will lose any visual contact with the horizon and so while I'm feeling the motions, I won't have any visual cues to tell me that way's down, this is how you balance yourself.
That's when it's going to be more extreme.
DAVID KAPLAN: Alright, I've got a screen and I've got a horizon.
SCIENTIST: We've got you started in motion DAVID KAPLAN: It looks like I'm fine.
I'm not feeling anything yet.
Now I feel like I'm turning way down.
NARRATOR: WHEN THE SIMULATED HORIZON MATCHES WHAT DAVID'S FEELING, HE DOES OKAY.
BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THAT'S NOT THE CASE? DAVID KAPLAN: The horizon's gone haywire.
Whoa, I'm getting very disoriented.
I can't literally tell which way I'm going.
Whoa, when I move my head, oh my god.
Just moving my head, the entire cabin turns.
NARRATOR: WITH CONFLICTING VISUAL CUES, JUST THE SLIGHT NOD OF HIS HEAD AMPLIFIES THE MIXED MESSAGES TO HIS BRAIN.
AND LIKE ASTRONAUTS IN MICROGRAVITY, THAT MAKES DAVID'S INSIDES START DOING CARTWHEELS.
DAVID KAPLAN: My stomach is not at a 100%.
I would say it's more like 60% right now.
SCIENTIST: I can see the beads of sweat on your upper lip.
I can see it on your forehead.
DAVID: I feel nausea.
Trying to get myself balanced.
SCIENTIST: We're slowing you down.
Okay, the whole thing is tipping.
Oh, now everything feels like it's spinning.
SCIENTIST: Yeah, well actually, we've got you at a full stop.
DAVID: No, you don't.
You say I'm at a full stop but this cab is rotating.
SCIENTIST: He's definitely rotating, he's said but you can see that he's actually not moving at all.
DAVID: I kept checking in on my stomach and my lunch.
Checking that it's going to stay down there.
Whoa.
I'm okay.
I'm alright.
Just catch me.
SCIENTIST: You're having a little difficulty time walking.
How do you feel? DAVID: I'm on the verge of, you know, sickness.
I'm glad to be out of there.
SCIENTIST: Ok, so we got you right to the edge then.
DAVID: I was near puking.
DAVID KAPLAN: I don't throw up.
I haven't thrown up since I was 10 years old.
This got me close.
If it's like that 24-7 in space, I can't imagine how they do it.
NARRATOR: THOUGH LOSING YOUR LUNCH IS ALWAYS A CONCERN, IF ASTRONAUTS ARE ABLE TO KEEP IT DOWN, ANOTHER ISSUE SOON DEVELOPS.
SIGRID: When we go into space, you get a lot of fluid collecting within your chest cavity, and because of that, it signals the body to say I'm going to eliminate that fluid more often.
NARRATOR: EVENTUALLY, WHA GOES IN MUST COME OUT.
JIM: How do you go to the bathroom in zero G? MAN: Hey, Reggie.
What's going on? JIM: And of course the answer I always give is very carefully.
REGGIE: Well, I'm in the WCS.
MAN: What is the WCS? REGGIE: Well, that's the potty.
Space potty.
MAN: Space potty? REGGIE: Yes, ANDY: So everything in space seems more difficult than it is on Earth.
I bet the bathroom's no different.
MIKE: It's no different.
Hygiene is very, very important in space.
You want to keep the space ship nice and clean.
You want to keep everybody healthy, so you want to make sure you know what you're doing when you go to the toilet.
This is a toilet seat.
And this is our urinal hose and it allows us to learn how to use the toilet in space and to even practice using the toilet.
This is an actual working toilet.
What's happening is the vacuum's going on inside of there and it's evacuating the air and setting up a vacuum inside of there.
NARRATOR: THE HOSE IS FLEXIBLE, BUT IT NEEDS TO BE PRETTY SNUG TO ITS CUSTOMER IN ORDER TO SUCK AWAY THE LIQUID WASTE TO A SEPARATE TANK.
ANDY: Suction is the key, it sounds like.
MIKE: Suction is very, very important.
Making sure that the materials get taken away and into the commode and doesn't create a problem in the cabin.
So one thing that helps us is our checklist.
Why don't you read off these items here, and if it says check, just tell me check.
ANDY: Check fans sep's same as hose block.
MIKE: Hose block says sep one, so I'm gonna put the fan sep to sep one.
ANDY: Check mode auto.
MIKE: Mode is auto.
ANDY: Check cradle auto.
MIKE: Cradle is auto.
ANDY: Uninstall hose and install urinal funnel.
MIKE: Okay, so this is our hose.
These are our urinal funnels.
We have two types - this is for little girls, this is for little boys.
We don't share these things.
You use your own, you stick to your own.
We've got to install the funnel on the hose.
What's next? ANDY: Urinate.
MIKE: Urinate! NARRATOR: SO TO RECAP, THAT'S THREE SWITCHES, TWO DIFFERENT GENDER FUNNELS, AND FINALLY NUMBER ONE IS A GO.
ANDY: Seems pretty complicated.
MIKE: You think so? You ain't seen nothing yet.
That was only number one.
Number two is even more complicated and, uh, a little intimidating.
So in order to be prepared, we have a special trainer right behind you to help you get the right position on this toilet seat.
This is one of the deepest, darkest secrets of NASA.
No one knows about this stuff.
Look down the hole.
ANDY: Wow, just a camera.
MIKE: There's a camera and there is a TV over here.
This is for alignment practice.
This is targeting practice only.
The hole that you're aiming for on that toilet is much smaller than what we're used to.
NARRATOR: BECAUSE THE HOLE AT THE BOTTOM IS SO SMALL, YOU HAVE TO BE IN THE RIGHT SPOT.
IF YOU MISS, YOU MIGHT END UP WITH AN ESCAPEE FLOATING IN THE CABIN.
MIKE: For this exercise, we're going to do some what of a simulation and we're going to simulate a part of you with this little smiley face circle right here so I will now turn my back and of course, you can keep the camera rolling on him but I'm going to turn my back and you can put that where you think it belongs.
Did you put it there yet? Alright, feel the body position but make it so everything's, are you in a rush to get off of that thing? You don't like it on there, do you? ANDY: People are knocking on the door, you know.
MIKE: Go down the hall.
You want to try to align that target in the right spot.
ANDY: I'm not sure that this is a view I really want to see of myself but you know, to be an astronaut, to survive space, you've got to do this kind of stuff.
MIKE: Yes, there's a price you've got to pay to get to space and survive and you're paying it right now.
NARRATOR: SITTING DOWN CORRECTLY HELPS CREATE A GOOD SEAL, THE TOILET WILL STORE YOUR 'DEPOSIT' WHILE ANY TOILET PAPER IS THEN PLACED IN A SMALL BAG THAT'S LATER PUT INTO THE TRASH.
ANDY: Alright, I'm strapped in, I'm lined up.
I guess I know what comes next.
JIM: Time to concentrate.
NARRATOR: MICROGRAVITY MAY GE US SPACE SICK AND TURN USING THE BATHROOM INTO AN ADVENTURE, BU BEING WEIGHTLESS MAKES ONE AC MORE TOUCH AND GO THAN ANY OTHER - SEX.
AND OUR PROBLEM WITH GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY ARE PUTTING OUR LONG-TERM SURVIVAL ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK.
WE'VE COME UP WITH SOLUTIONS TO EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN MICROGRAVITY, FROM EATING TO SLEEPING, EVEN USING THE BATHROOM.
BUT THE LACK OF G'S ALSO EFFECTS A MORE IMPORTANT TYPE OF DAILY GRIND.
MARY: One astronaut told me that kama sutra can't begin to cover the possibilities that you could have in, in zero G.
NARRATOR: BUT AS WITH EVERYTHING ELSE IN ZERO G, SEX HAS BOTH ITS UPS AND DOWNS.
MARY: There's a lot of dealing with the fact that you're drifting apart.
You don't have something holding you together.
NARRATOR: GRAVITY IS USUALLY A FRIEND WITH BENEFITS, BUT WHEN IT DISAPPEARS, WE NEED A LITTLE EXTRA HELP STAYING CLOSE.
MARY: The few astronauts that I did speak to about this tended to think that it wouldn't be a problem.
You are clumsy at first and you get better and you experiment and that's the way it goes - you figure it out.
NARRATOR: FOR YEARS, THERE'S BEEN PLENTY OF RUMORS OF ZERO G LOVEMAKING, FROM A HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM ABOARD A 1992 SHUTTLE MISSION TO A RUMORED NASA DOCUMENT THAT DESCRIBE TESTS OF VARIOUS SEXUAL POSITIONS, WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE A HOAX.
THE TRUTH IS NASA HASN'T TRIED IT YET.
MARY: I do not know of anybody who's had sex in space.
Time is so regimented on a short mission.
NARRATOR: EVEN IF THEY COULD FIND THE TIME, THE MECHANICS OF HAVING SEX ARE JUST ONE OF MANY UNCOMFORTABLE COMPLICATIONS.
IN MICRO-GRAVITY, HUMANS HAVE LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE, WHICH MAY MAKE MEN 'SMALLER' THAN THEY'RE USED TO DURING SEX.
THERE'S ALSO NO FLOW OF HEA AWAY FROM THE BODY - WHICH MAKES PEOPLE SWEAT MORE.
EVEN KISSING CAN BE UNPLEASANT.
THE SENSE OF TASTE AND SMELL CAN CHANGE.
JIM: I'm always asked about mating part but as a biologist, and as a physician, that's not what I'm worried about.
I'm worried about the implications what happens after that.
NARRATOR: GRAVITY IS ACTUALLY AN IMPORTAN PART OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.
WITHOUT IT, CONCEPTION MAY NEVER OCCUR AND EVEN IF IT DOES, FETUSES MIGHT NOT GROW PROPERLY.
AND WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE OF ALL THE PROBLEMS ASTRONAUTS HAVE IN MICROGRAVITY OVER THE LONG-TERM.
JIM: The human body begins to adapt to the zero gravity environment.
The heart gets lazy.
We lose mass in the heart.
You lose blood volume, about 10-12%.
SIGRID: We also lose muscle mass.
One of the reasons why we have such strong muscles is because we're working all the time against gravity.
If we don't have that, then our muscles atrophy.
JIM: And the skeletal system continues to lose calcium, which means bone demineralization.
And once you go beyond about a year or 2 years you might be in a situation in which you literally could not come back to Earth.
ANDY: So we've been able to solve some of the short-term problems associated with space travel, but the longer term problems, we don't quite know how we'll deal with those on a long space mission.
NARRATOR: SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO TAKE OU GRAVITY WITH US.
DAVID: One way you could imagine living in space, if you could live in some sort of a space station.
And let's say the space station was round and spun in on itself.
It's constantly forcing you down towards the center with centripetal force.
Even though there's really no gravity in that situation, it's all due to this rotational motion and the centripetal force.
NARRATOR: BUILDING THESE SPACE STATIONS MAY BE FAR OFF IN THE FUTURE, BUT IT HASN'T STOPPED SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS FROM ENVISIONING WHAT THEY MIGHT LOOK LIKE.
ONE DESIGN INNARRATORLVES A SHIP WITH TWO CYLINDERS ATTACHED BY A CENTRAL TEATHER.
EACH CYLINDER CREATES ITS GRAVITY BY PULLING ON THE OTHER ONE AS IT ROTATES.
BOTH WOULD HAVE SEVERAL LEVELS - JUST LIKE A MULTI-STORY OFFICE BUILDING.
BUT A MORE ADVANCED SOLUTION CONCEPT CALLED A STANFORD TORUS.
THE EXTERIOR OF THE SHIP SPINS LIKE A GIANT WHEEL, ROTATING ONCE PER MINUTE, BRINGING ALL THE GRAVITY WE WOULD EVER NEED TO SURVIVE.
MAN: Look at that.
.
NARRATOR: TIPPING THE GRAVITY SCALE IN OUR FANARRATORR IS JUS ONE PLOY TO SURVIVE THE MINEFIELD OF SPACE.
AS SOON AS WE CRACK THAT PROBLEM, ANOTHER PITFALL IS WAITING FOR US - PRESSURE - AND ITS RISKS MAKE OVERCOMING GRAVITY SEEM LIKE A CAKEWALK.
WE MIGHT THINK THAT OVERCOMING GRAVITY WOULD PUT US ON STABLE GROUND IN SPACE, BUT SOMETHING ELSE STILL MAKES OUR SURVIVAL A SHAKEY PROPOSITION - PRESSURE.
HOW MUCH OF AN EFFECT CAN PRESSURE REALLY HAVE? WITH A 55 GALLON DRUM, WE CAN PUT EARTH'S AIR PRESSURE TO THE ULTIMATE STRENGTH TEST.
STEVE: Mike,how thick is a layer of air over the planet Earth? MIKE: Well, we say the boundary of space is about 50 miles up.
STEVE: If I could take a square inch of that air and weigh it, it would weigh about 14.
7 pounds.
MIKE: You'd think it'd weigh nothing.
STEVE: No, about 15 pounds.
So every square inch of this barrel, there's 14.
7 pounds.
That's about a bowling ball.
NARRATOR: BUT THAT'S JUST ONE SQUARE INCH.
ADD UP ALL THE INCHES AND THERE'S AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF AIR PUSHING DOWN ON THIS BARREL.
STEVE: There's about 30,000 pounds of pressure over the entire surface of this barrel.
That's a lot of pressure.
So why doesn't this just collapse with that much weight? MIKE: Because we have pressure in the inside as well.
STEVE: That's right.
NARRATOR: THE INSIDE PRESSURE AND THE OUTSIDE PRESSURE ARE IDENTICAL, COEXISTING IN PERFECT BALANCE.
BUT IF YOU WERE TO TAKE ONE OF THEM AWAY, YOU'LL SEE SOME REAL POWER UNLEASHED.
STEVE: Now what we're going to do is try to remove or lower the pressure on th e inside.
MIKE: You've got to get the air out of there.
STEVE: Got to get the air out, some of it anyways.
We're going to use an old fashion method.
We're going to use some steam to push the air out.
And then we're going to condense the steam back to water and that'll leave a partial vacuum inside.
And what do you think gonna happen? MIKE: I don't know, if it was a small can, like an aluminum can, I could see it crushing but this is a pretty big barrel.
This isn't a rinky-dink little can here so I'm not really sure.
I'm a little skeptical.
STEVE: We'll just see.
Now we've got water inside, so I want you to put on your safety glasses please.
A very good idea.
MIKE: Alright.
Let her rip.
STEVE: We've got some heat going now.
STEVE: Well, I'll tell you what we can do.
As a backup, I brought along a flamethrower.
That'll work 1 seconds MIKE: This is how we barbeque in Texas.
STEVE: That's going to increase the speed of boiling.
MIKE: We're just rocking and rolling.
STEVE: Okay, we have steam coming out.
NARRATOR: NOW THAT MOST OF THE WATER VAPOR HAS ESCAPED, GETTING LOW PRESSURE INSIDE REQUIRES TWO MORE STEPS STEVE: So why don't you get a wrench? NARRATOR: SCREWING THE TOP ON AND GETTING THIS BARREL A LITTLE CHILLED.
STEVE: It's going to take quite a while for that barrel to cool down, so we're going to speed up the cooling process using the water.
Does that make sense? And that's going to create a lower pressure inside the barrel, and if there's a significant difference between the inside and the outside, the barrel might let us know that.
MIKE: Like a little dent? STEVE: Well, maybe a little dent.
Let's see what happens.
Temperature's dropping.
Whoa! Let's see what happens.
Temperature's dropping.
Whoa! MIKE: Holy cow, what did you do? STEVE: I didn't do that.
MIKE: You left something inside of there.
STEVE: Man, that's hard on an old man.
I didn't think I could move that fast.
That I s amazing, isn't it? MIKE: No way, STEVE: Way.
Way.
Look at that.
Now, is there anything touching the barrel? What's touching the barrel? MIKE: The air pressure STEVE: Air.
Air is crushing the barrel.
MIKE: You've got to be, look at that thing.
STEVE: Yeah, it looks like I sat on it.
MIKE: So that's the amount of pressure amount all the time? STEVE: All the time.
That's how we live our daily lives on this planet.
MIKE: Right on the edge.
STEVE: Right on the edge of being crushed.
NARRATOR: ON EARTH, WE DON'T GE FLATTENED BY AIR BECAUSE OUR OWN INTERNAL PRESSURE IS ALWAYS PUSHING BACK AGAINST IT.
BUT ON A PLANET LIKE VENUS, WE'D BE FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE.
DUE TO ITS INCREDIBLY THICK ATMOSPHERE, THE PRESSURE ON VENUS IS 90 TIMES GREATER THAN OUR PLANET'S.
IT'S SO STRONG, YOUR EYES WOULD CAVE IN AND BURST, YOUR EARDRUMS WOULD RUPTURE, ALL OF YOUR SKIN AND MUSCLES WOULD BE COMPRESSED, EVEN YOUR BONES COULD COLLAPSE, AND YOUR INTERNAL ORGANS WOULD BE CRUSHED.
THIS ALL HAPPENS BECAUSE THE BODY WOULD BE UNDER 1, 350 POUNDS OF PRESSURE - THE EQUIVALENT OF A LARGE COW.
BUT IT'S NOT JUST ONE COW - IT'S ONE COW FOR EVERY SQUARE INCH OF YOUR BODY.
FORTUNATELY, NO ONE IS LOOKING TO LIVE ON VENUS.
BUT SPACE, THAT'S A DIFFERENT STORY.
AND ONCE OUTSIDE THE PLANET'S ATMOSPHERE, THE DANGER ISN'T TOO MUCH PRESSUREIT'S TOO LITTLE.
AS THE U.
S.
AIR FORCE FOUND OUT IN 1960, WITH NEARLY TRAGIC RESULTS.
PILOT JOSEPH KITTINGER WAS CHOSEN TO CONDUCT A SERIES OF TESTS MEANT TO IMPROVE THE CHANCE OF SURVIVAL AFTER BAILING OUT AT HIGH ALTITUDES.
MARY: He's like 'I'll do it!' I think his quote was 'you don't get any of the fun stuff unless you volunteer.
NARRATOR: KITTINGER ASCENDED TO THE EDGE OF SPACE IN NOTHING MORE THAN A SMALL ALUMINUM CAPSULE, CALLED A GONDOLA, ATTACHED TO THE BOTTOM OF A 170-FOOT-DIAMETER BALLOON.
MARY: He's going up in a little gondola and he's at, you know, 100,000 feet, and nobody's done this before.
NARRATOR: AT NEARLY 19 AND A HALF MILES ABOVE THE EARTH, KITTINGER BEGINS THE TEST BY JUMPING.
JIM: He did the world's highest parachute jump.
And to do that, he had a full pressure suit.
And unfortunately, some bad things happened to him on the way down.
DAVID: There was a leak in the glove of his pressurized suit, so he could not protect his hand from the lack of pressure at 100,000 feet.
ANDY: When you take that pressure away, the fluids in our body have nothing to push against, so they just try to get out and they'll just take the easiest route to get out of the body.
NARRATOR: KITTINGER'S SUI PROTECTED THE REST OF HIS BODY, BUT WITHOUT EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE PRESSING DOWN ON HIM, HIS HAND INFLATED TO TWICE IT'S NORMAL SIZE.
DAVID: His hand was the size of a balloon and apparently he did eventually recover.
NARRATOR: BUT THE GLOVE INCIDEN SHOWED THAT SURVIVING IN THE VOID WAS STILL A SHAKEY PROPOSITION, AND IF A LACK OF PRESSURE IN EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE IS DANGEROUS, THEN THE COMPLETE VACUUM OF SPACE MAY BE THE BIGGEST THREA TO OUR SURVIVAL YET.
NARRATOR: THE HUMAN BODY WALKS A FINE LINE WITH PRESSURE.
TOO MUCH AND I COULD BE CRUSHED.
BUT TOO LITTLE AND IT HAS ANOTHER SET OF PROBLEMS ENTIRELY AND THESE ARE SPACE'S WORST ABUSES YET.
DAVID: There's no air pressure in space and we evolved and our bodies grew in a situation where we have a lot of air pressure on us and we're accustomed to that.
Our breathing requires that sort of pressure for things to feel normal.
NARRATOR: AN ALTITUDE CHAMBER CAN TRAIN ASTRONAUTS TO EXPERIENCE LESS AND LESS PRESSURE, AS WELL AS LOW OXYGEN LEVELS, BY PUMPING THE AIR OUT OF A TIGHTLY SEALED ROOM, SIMULATING THE VACUUM OF SPACE.
WHEN THEY'RE LEFT BREATHLESS, TEST SUBJECTS USE THA EXPERIENCE TO HELP THEM RECOGNIZE THE WARNING SIGNS OF A PRESSURE LEAK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.
AND INHALING DEEPLY BACK AT NASTAR, DAVID KAPLAN IS READYING FOR THIS ONE LAST ROUND OF TORMENT.
DAVID KAPLAN: What I'm about to do is undergo a test of simulating high altitudes.
What I'm going to experience is hypoxia or altitude sickness.
And altitude sickness will feel like tingling in my skin, I'll certainly have more trouble breathing and trouble staying conscious.
We will have a visual guide here, which is my friend Bob over here.
Bob is filled with water dyed red, so it feels a little like blood.
We'll see how well Bob does.
SCIENTIST: Okay, gentlemen, we're going to start a 3,000-foot per minute descent to 25,000 feet.
Here we go.
Everything fine? DAVID: My ears feel a little bit of pressure, but they're popping continuously.
SCIENTIST: That's normal.
Alright, we're at 25,000 feet.
Just remove the mask.
Remember what I told you.
The first head bob I see, you're going back on oxygen.
DAVID: Gog it.
NARRATOR: THERE'S VERY LITTLE OXYGEN IN THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW.
WITHOUT IT, ONE OF THE FIRS EFFECTS SHOULD BE DAVID'S BRAIN FUNCTION SCREECHING TO A HALT.
SOME BASIC TEST QUESTIONS WILL SEE HOW HE'S DOING.
SCIENTIST: So hold your head up straight and steady and start the worksheet David.
What's the first question they're asking you, the first math problem? David, you with me? DAVID: I'm with you.
SCIENTIST: Okay, he's officially hypoxic.
He's not responding.
Put the mask back on.
Start breathing for me David, nice and steady.
NARRATOR: DAVID'S BODY IS OXYGEN DEPRIVED, WHICH MEANS HIS CELLS CAN'T DO THEIR JOBS, AND THAT CAUSES A WIDE VARIETY OF SYMPTOMS.
DAVID: I'm feeling dizzy.
SCIENTIST: Guess what, you were pretty non-responsive there about 10 seconds ago.
We had to call it.
That was it.
The exercise is finished.
You got hypoxic.
DAVID: Oh boy, that's disappointing.
DAVID KAPLAN: Once we got to 25,000 feet, he asked me to take this written test.
By the time I got to the third question, I basically lost consciousness and then the next thing I heard was mask, and I thought, 'Oh, he's telling me to put the mask back on' and I felt around and discovered my mask was already on.
And so if I was in space, and my ability to reason was the first thing to go, then I'd be in deep trouble.
We do these sorts of training so you see those symptoms early enough so that you can take corrective measures.
NARRATOR: BUT AT 25,000 FEET, THERE'S STILL PLENTY OF EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE ABOVE YOU.
TO SEE THE TRUE EFFECTS OF LOW PRESSURE, YOU HAVE TO GO HIGHER.
DAVID COULDN'T POSSIBLY HANDLE IT, BUT WHAT ABOUT BOB? DAVID KAPLAN: We're going to let Bob drive us all the way to a 100,000 feet which is basically getting up to space.
You ready Bob? Bob is filled with water dyed red, so it feels a little bit like blood.
The pressure's getting so low, that the temperature in which water boils is getting close to the normal air temperature.
If you get to the vacuum of space, this is exactly what would happen to every liquid in your body.
And we've got a nice pitcher of ice there, too.
The ice is staying frozen because it's still cold in there.
The water's boiling because the lack of pressure.
It's not boiling because it's hot, it's boiling because nothing's keeping it suppressed.
This is a lot worse than just passing out.
We're talking about boiling your insides away.
If your spacesuit lost pressure, this would be a violent way to go.
NARRATOR: BUT H EXACTLY COULD AN ASTRONAUT'S SPACESUI LOSE PRESSURE? THE ANSWER COULD BE OUR DEADLIEST, MOST UNPREDICTABLE THREA YET - MICROMETEORITES.
MIKE: If a meteorite could pierce all the way through the layers of the suit, down to the pressure bladder and actually break that as well to create a hole, then you would lose your breathing oxygen, you'd lose the pressure that keeps you alive.
It would be a really bad day.
NARRATOR: IN SPACE, THIS BAD DAY CAN HAPPEN IN LESS THAN 2 MINUTES AFTER IMPACT.
SINCE A MICROMETEORITE STRIKE THAT DEPRESSURIZES THE SUIT ALSO MAKES IT LOSE OXYGEN, AN ASTRONAUT HAS TO MAKE A QUICK DECISION.
IF HE HOLDS HIS BREATH, HIS LUNGS WILL HYPEREXPAND INSTANTLY, FORCING AIR INTO HIS HEART, CAUSING A HEART ATTACK.
IF HE DOESN'T HOLD HIS BREATH, HE HAS MORE TIME, BUT NOT MUCH.
AFTER ABOUT 10-15 SECONDS WITHOUT OXYGEN, HE'LL PASS OUT AND HIS LUNGS WILL START TO DIE.
WITHIN 30-60 SECONDS, GASES START TO ESCAPE HIS BODY, SALIVA ON HIS TONGUE BEGINS TO BOIL AWAY, AND BY A MINUTE HIS BLOOD IS RAPIDLY EXPELLING ANY REMAINING OXYGEN.
BUT DESPITE ALL THIS, IF WITHIN 90 SECONDS HIS PARTNER CAN PATCH HIM UP, RECOMPRESSING HIS SUIT, HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SURVIVE.
FUTURE SPACESUITS ARE BEING DESIGNED TO BETTER WITHSTAND ATTACKS LIKE THIS ONE, BUT THERE'S ONE DANGER THEY'RE STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP WITH - RADIATION.
ANDY: The sun is putting out radiation all the time.
That's high-energy radiation.
You get too much of it and you get burned or you could get cancer.
NARRATOR: AND IT'S PROVING TO BE THE MOST DEADLY CHALLENGE OF ALL, CASTING DOUBT ON ANY HOPE OF OUR LONG TERM SURVIVAL IN SPACE.
IF WE'RE GOING TO SURVIVE IN SPACE, ONE EXECUTIONER STANDS ABOVE ALL THE REST - RADIATION.
AND OUT IN THE VOID, THIS INVISIBLE THREAT IS LIKE A RUNAWAY FREIGHT TRAIN.
ANDY: Radiation is basically high-energy particles and when they hit your body they can do a lot of damage.
When most people think of radiation, they think of things like nuclear bombs.
But in space you hit radiation from the Sun, you hit cosmic rays, and you don't have the Earth's atmosphere to protect you.
NARRATOR: WE MEASURE RADIATION EXPOSURE IN UNITS CALLED MILLISIEVERTS, OR MSV'S ONE OF WHICH IS THE EQUIVALEN OF ABOUT THREE CHEST X-RAYS.
THE AVERAGE HUMAN RECEIVES AROUND 150 MSV'S OVER THE COURSE OF THEIR LIFETIME FROM NATURAL RADIATION, LIKE THE SUN'S RAYS.
SIGRID: We're very fortunate to live on Earth, where we have this atmosphere and this magnetic field that actually deflects these energetic particles.
NARRATOR: BUT AWAY FROM EARTH'S SURFACE, EXPOSURE SHOOTS UP EXPONENTIALLY.
ASTRONAUTS ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION RECEIVE THAT LIFETIME'S WORTH OF RADIATION IN JUST 6 MONTHS.
SIGRID: If we go into space, we lose the atmosphere and we also lose magnetic fields, especially if we're going to places like the moon and beyond.
NARRATOR: RADIATION IS A DANGER ALMOST ANYWHERE WE GO.
EVEN OUR CLOSE NEIGHBOR MARS IS NO SAFE HAVEN.
ITS ATMOSPHERE IS LESS THAN 1% THE THICKNESS OF EARTH'S.
IF YOU WALKED ON THE SURFACE WITHOUT PROTECTION, YOU'D BE A SITTING DUCK FOR FREQUENT BLASTS OF RADIATION.
WITHIN A FEW MONTHS, YOUR ENTIRE BODY STARTS TO GET GRADUALLY MANGLED AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL.
THE LINING OF THE INTESTINES SHRIVELS, COMPLETELY SHUTTING DOWN YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.
INSIDE YOUR BONES, MARROW THA PRODUCES NEW BLOOD CELLS STOPS MAKING NORMAL CELLS AND PRODUCES FREAKISHLY MALFORMED ONES.
BUT WORST OF ALL, YOUR ENTIRE NERNARRATORUS SYSTEM CRAWLS TO A STOP AS THE CONSTANT BOMBARDMEN CAUSES NERVES TO WITHER AND DIE.
COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS BECOME LIKE SOMEONE WITH EARLY ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.
AND WITH YOUR HAIR TURNING GRAY AND YOUR SKIN WRINKLING.
IT WOULD BE LIKE AGING DECADES IN JUST A SPAN OF 2- 3 YEARS.
WITH ALL OF THIS DEADLY ENERGY FIRING AT US FROM ALL DIRECTIONS IN SPACE, IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE THERE'S NO HOPE FOR OUR SURVIVAL.
BUT NEW RADIATION SHIELDING TECHNIQUES ARE AT THE TOP OF NASA AND OTHER SPACE AGENCIES' WISH LIST.
SIGRID: So what NASA's looking at now is can they actually build spacecraft out of the same types of material that our garbage bags are made out of? These plastics actually can protect better from these cosmic rays than the aluminum that we've used in the past to build spacecraft.
Another thing we can do is have tanks of our fuel that propel the spacecraft actually surrounding the living quarters of the astronauts.
The fuel also provides some type of protection where these cosmic rays will actually then embed in the fuel and won't actually make it into the living quarters.
NARRATOR: WITH MULTIPLE POSSIBILITIES DEVELOPING IN RADIATION SHIELDING, WE'RE CLOSE TO TAKING ON ALMOST ALL THE RIGORS OF SPACE.
DAVID: Human beings were not built to be in space - that's for sure - but I think all forms of exploration are great and if we actually want to survive out there, we definitely have a threshold to get over to get ourselves into space.
ANDY: We're pretty smart monkeys and I think that as long as we keep developing new technology, we've got a chance of surviving in space.
SIGRID: As a species, we have accomplished so much in our past, and I think that if we were collectively trying to survive space, we can do it.
We can accomplish anything.
NARRATOR: SPACE HAS A MESSAGE - BRING IT ON.
MIKE: This is some serious dark secrets that we're revealing here.
NARRATOR: WE'RE PUTTING OUR BODIES TO THE TEST BECAUSE SPACE HAS AN ARSONAL OF WEAPONS THAT WILL KILL US, EACH ONE WORSE THAN THE LAST.
FROM HEAD-SPINNING MICROGRAVITY DAVID: Wow.
I'm here, puking.
NARRATOR: TO EXTREME PRESSURE CHANGES STEVE: Temperature's dropping.
Whoa! NARRATOR: TO SOMETHING SO LETHAL IT WILL DESTROY US FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
DAVID: This would be a violent way to go.
NARRATOR: IT'S A GAME OF CA AND MOUSE IN THE VOID, AND OUR SURVIVAL IS THE PRIZE.
ON EARTH, WE LOVE LIVING ON THE EDGE.
BUT IN SPACE, THA EDGE IS RAZOR SHARP.
THE NARRATORID HAS AN ARMY OF ASSASSINS JUST WAITING TO TAKE US OUT.
FIRST UP, A FORCE WE'RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH HERE ON EARTH - GRAVITY.
Three, two, one, zero.
Liftoff.
Space shuttle Atlantis NARRATOR: BUT IN SPACE, THIS HARD-HITTING FOE CAN TAKE US DOWN.
IT'S WHAT ASTRONAUTS FACE EVERY TIME THEY TRY TO BREAK FREE OF OUR PLANET.
A CRUSHING FORCE THEY NEED TO BE READY FOR.
8 seconds.
Roll command.
Roll Command.
Roger roll, Disovery.
NARRATOR: HOW? AT FACILITIES LIKE THE NASTAR CENTER IN PENNSYLVANIA, THEY TRAIN FOR THE FIRST BATTLE IN THE WAR TO SURVIVE SPACE IN THE EXTREME GRAVITY OF A CENTRIFUGE.
THEORECTICAL PHYSICIS DAVID KAPLAN THINKS HE'S UP TO THE TASK.
HE'S NO ASTRONAUT, BUT HE'S ABOUT TO FIND OUT WHA IT TAKES TO BE ONE.
DAVID KAPLAN: Right now, I'm going to get into this centrifuge, something I've never been inside before.
I'm a little bit freaked out.
There's this concept of getting out of the Earth's gravity and so what I'm going to experience is a mass of about six times my weight down to my feet and then six times my weight through my back, like this.
NARRATOR: DAVID'S PREPARING TO BE HIT BY EXTREME G-FORCES.
ONE G IS EQUAL TO THE EARTH'S GRAVITY, BUT A HUMAN CENTRIFUGE PRODUCES MULTIPLE G'S WHEN I ACCELLERATES, PINNING ITS RIDER TO THEIR SEAT, JUST LIKE A ROLLER COASTER ON STEROIDS.
DAVID: I will try to make this a successful flight.
SCIENTIST: David, are you ready? DAVID: I'm ready.
SCIENTIST: David's ready.
DAVID: I'm not going to get more ready than this.
SCIENTIST: Checklist is good.
Firing sequence starts in 3, 2, 1 Alright, here we go.
DAVID: I feel my stomach, whoa! Holy XXXX! SCIENTIST: Good.
Just relax.
DAVID KAPLAN: My face is being smooched.
I feel the pressure on my cheeks.
Now it's moved to my chest.
Oh, my God.
Everything is very heavy.
Wow, it felt like something's gonna break my chest.
NARRATOR: SPINNING AT 26 RENARRATORLUTIONS PER MINUTE, DAVID'S BEING HIT WITH 6 G'S, MAKING IT FEEL LIKE HE'S CARRYING NEARLY 1,000 EXTRA POUNDS.
DAVID: Okay, my arm SCIENTIST: Don't hurt your arms.
Don't hurt your arms.
Alright, just relax for this part.
You've been working pretty hard in there.
Good, good job David.
DAVID: I feel almost human.
SCIENTIST: Pretty intense, huh? DAVID: That was intense.
SCIENTIST: Ok, how was it? DAVID: Um, I survived.
It was amazing.
Okay.
I have sea legs.
DAVID KAPLAN: The very first shot up was shocking.
Holy xxxx I didn't expect that much intensity.
I really felt my chest being crushed.
I thought this was going to be hard.
It was certainly the most physically intense thing I've ever done in my life.
NARRATOR: INTENSE SUPER GRAVITY IS JUST THE BEGINNING FOR AN ASTRONAUT.
BY THE TIME THEY REACH SPACE, ABOUT 60 MILES AWAY FROM EARTH'S SURFACE, THEY DO A 180 - THEY GO FROM 3 G'S TO ALMOST 0.
IT'S A BIG WEIGHT OFF THEIR CHEST, BUT JUST HOW BIG? ASTRONOMER ANDY HOWELL IS HEADING TO THE TRACK TO FIND OUT.
ANDY: I'm an astrophysicist, not an athlete, but this is for science.
NARRATOR: READY, SET, GO! ANDY'S RECORDING HIS MILE TIME HERE ON EARTH FIRST.
AND AS HE RACES AROUND THE TRACK, HE'S WORKING AGAINS EARTH'S GRAVITY.
MAN: Time.
ANDY: 8 minutes.
It's not my best time, but it's not my worst NARRATOR: BUT HIS NEXT STEP WILL MAKE HIM LIGHT AS A FEATHER.
TIME FOR A LITTLE RUN ON THE MOON.
ANDY HOWELL: Behind me is a machine that simulates lunar gravity.
It's only about a 1/6th of Earth's gravity.
Pretty sure that it will improve my mile time, but how much? Let's find out.
Alright, so this thing is inflating my pants.
It has to lift me off the treadmill basically so from my torso up, it's Earth's gravity but waist down, it's lunar gravity.
Alright, so the gravity's dialed down to about 1/5th of that of Earth's gravity.
It's a lot easier, I can tell you.
I'm not really breaking a sweat yet at all.
So, I like these things.
They should get one in my gym.
I could say, "hey, I just ran 10 miles today" and impress people but lunar running, not nearly as hard.
This must be what the astronauts felt like on the moon.
You just kind of really jump up in the air with every step.
One mile, 5 minutes.
Not too bad.
On Earth, it took me 8 minutes to run a mile.
Running on the anti-gravity treadmill improved my Earth mile time by almost 40%.
So on Earth, I'm a slow nerd, but on the moon, I'm a pretty good athlete.
NARRATOR: A FASTER MILE ISN' THE ONLY EFFECT OF LUNAR GRAVITY ON THE HUMAN BODY.
LOTS OF STRANGE THINGS BEGIN TO HAPPEN.
TO START WITH, YOU GET TALLER SINCE YOUR SPINE ELONGATES UP TO 2 TO 3 INCHES.
YOUR ORGANS AREN'T PULLED DOWN AND BEGIN TO FLOAT.
THEN THERE'S YOUR FLUIDS, WHICH RUSH FROM YOUR LEGS TO YOUR UPPER BODY.
THE INCREASED BLOODFLOW STRETCHES YOUR HEART, THEN THE EXCESS FLUIDS PUFF UP YOUR FACE AND CAUSE THE SINUSES AND BRAIN TO SWELL.
AND ALONG WITH ALL OF THIS, THE DECREASED GRAVITY AND YOUR SPACESUIT TURN YOUR RUN INTO WHAT ASTRONAUTS CALL THE BUNNY HOP.
THE MOON'S LOW GRAVITY MAY LOOK LIKE FUN, BUT AEROSPACE ENGINEERS, LIKE SIGRID CLOSE SIH-GRID, KNOW IT'S NO PARADISE.
SIGRID: We've evolved and we've adapted to live here on Earth under these types of conditions.
We go into space and it's a completely different environment there's microgravity.
NARRATOR: BECAUSE SPACE IS EMPTY, GRAVITY IS ALMOST NILL.
BUT IT'S NEVER FULLY GONE, SO ZERO G IS MORE ACCURATELY CALLED MICROGRAVITY, AND IT THROWS US FOR A PRETTY BIG LOOP.
SIGRID: Our bodies simply are not made to live in space and there are strong repercussions for living in a microgravity environment.
NARRATOR: MICROGRAVITY WRECKS HANARRATORC ON EVERYTHING WE DO TO SURVIVE - EATING, DIGESTING, EVEN, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, SEX.
IF TEARING OURSELVES AWAY FROM EARTH'S GRAVITY WAS ROUGH, LOSING IT ENTIRELY COULD PROVE TO BE OUR DOWNFALL.
SURVIVAL BEYOND EARTH'S PROTECTIVE BUBBLE IS A MASSIVE UNDERTAKING.
SPACE IS JUST WAITING TO WIPE US OFF THE MAP.
BUT ONCE WE GET THERE, ESCAPING GRAVITY DOESN'T SEEM TO BE MUCH OF A CONCERN, AS NASA ASTRONAUTS LIKE MIKE MASSIMINO CAN NARRATORUCH FOR.
MIKE: The first thing I did is took my helmet off and I floated right in front of it and sure enough stood right there.
I took my gloves off and boom, just floated right in front of it.
MAN: Mike.
Welcome to the wonderful world of space walking.
MIKE: This is incredible.
NARRATOR: MICROGRAVITY LOOKS LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE.
MARY: So there's this physical euphoria and you're just giddy.
It's this sense of being freed from a weight that you didn't know was there.
MAN 1: So this met your expectations? MAN 2: Exceeded.
MAN 1: Really? MAN 2: Definitely.
MAN 1: Well you're doing great.
.
NARRATOR: BUT THAT GIDDINESS USUALLY DOESN'T LAST LONG.
ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, ASTRONAUTS ARE CLUTCHING THEIR STOMACHS.
THEY'VE GOT SPACE SICKNESS, AND IT'S NOT A PRETTY SIGHT.
MARY: What sets space motion sickness apart is the rapidity of which it comes on.
Sometimes what happens is you work at a task, a crewmate comes by, is upside down, and you look at that person and it just instantly makes you ill and you throw up.
NARRATOR: THE PROBLEMS BEGIN WITH THE 'OTOLITHS' SMALL STRUCTURES IN THE INNER EAR, WHICH HELP THE BODY MAINTAIN EQUILIBRIUM.
BUT ONCE IN MICROGRAVITY, THESE TINY SENSORS HAVE NO CONCEP OF WHAT'S UP OR WHAT'S DOWN.
AND NASA DOCTORS KNOW THIS DRIVES ASTRONAUTS CRAZY.
JIM: The primary sense is the visual sense, ok? So we look up; we know that's the ceiling and that's the floor.
The problem is in space, now all of a sudden all your visual reference is telling you yes, that is still the ceiling, that is still the floor, but your otoliths are telling you something different every time you move your head.
NARRATOR: TO PREPARE ASTRONAUTS FOR GETTING DAZED AND CONFUSED, FLIGHTS SPECIALISTS HAVE COME UP WITH A STOMACH-CHURNING TRAINING EXERCISE.
TO SEE HOW IT WORKS, DAVID KAPLAN IS BACK FOR MORE ABUSE AT NASTAR IN PENNSYLVANIA.
HE'S GOING TO CLIMB ABOARD A SPINNING SIMULATOR THAT WILL SEND HIM ROLLING IN EVERY WHICH WAY IMAGINABLE.
DAVID KAPLAN: There are two stages in getting me sick.
The first thing that happens is I get inside the disorientation chamber and the thing is going to spin around on different axis.
The second thing that'll happen is I will lose any visual contact with the horizon and so while I'm feeling the motions, I won't have any visual cues to tell me that way's down, this is how you balance yourself.
That's when it's going to be more extreme.
DAVID KAPLAN: Alright, I've got a screen and I've got a horizon.
SCIENTIST: We've got you started in motion DAVID KAPLAN: It looks like I'm fine.
I'm not feeling anything yet.
Now I feel like I'm turning way down.
NARRATOR: WHEN THE SIMULATED HORIZON MATCHES WHAT DAVID'S FEELING, HE DOES OKAY.
BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THAT'S NOT THE CASE? DAVID KAPLAN: The horizon's gone haywire.
Whoa, I'm getting very disoriented.
I can't literally tell which way I'm going.
Whoa, when I move my head, oh my god.
Just moving my head, the entire cabin turns.
NARRATOR: WITH CONFLICTING VISUAL CUES, JUST THE SLIGHT NOD OF HIS HEAD AMPLIFIES THE MIXED MESSAGES TO HIS BRAIN.
AND LIKE ASTRONAUTS IN MICROGRAVITY, THAT MAKES DAVID'S INSIDES START DOING CARTWHEELS.
DAVID KAPLAN: My stomach is not at a 100%.
I would say it's more like 60% right now.
SCIENTIST: I can see the beads of sweat on your upper lip.
I can see it on your forehead.
DAVID: I feel nausea.
Trying to get myself balanced.
SCIENTIST: We're slowing you down.
Okay, the whole thing is tipping.
Oh, now everything feels like it's spinning.
SCIENTIST: Yeah, well actually, we've got you at a full stop.
DAVID: No, you don't.
You say I'm at a full stop but this cab is rotating.
SCIENTIST: He's definitely rotating, he's said but you can see that he's actually not moving at all.
DAVID: I kept checking in on my stomach and my lunch.
Checking that it's going to stay down there.
Whoa.
I'm okay.
I'm alright.
Just catch me.
SCIENTIST: You're having a little difficulty time walking.
How do you feel? DAVID: I'm on the verge of, you know, sickness.
I'm glad to be out of there.
SCIENTIST: Ok, so we got you right to the edge then.
DAVID: I was near puking.
DAVID KAPLAN: I don't throw up.
I haven't thrown up since I was 10 years old.
This got me close.
If it's like that 24-7 in space, I can't imagine how they do it.
NARRATOR: THOUGH LOSING YOUR LUNCH IS ALWAYS A CONCERN, IF ASTRONAUTS ARE ABLE TO KEEP IT DOWN, ANOTHER ISSUE SOON DEVELOPS.
SIGRID: When we go into space, you get a lot of fluid collecting within your chest cavity, and because of that, it signals the body to say I'm going to eliminate that fluid more often.
NARRATOR: EVENTUALLY, WHA GOES IN MUST COME OUT.
JIM: How do you go to the bathroom in zero G? MAN: Hey, Reggie.
What's going on? JIM: And of course the answer I always give is very carefully.
REGGIE: Well, I'm in the WCS.
MAN: What is the WCS? REGGIE: Well, that's the potty.
Space potty.
MAN: Space potty? REGGIE: Yes, ANDY: So everything in space seems more difficult than it is on Earth.
I bet the bathroom's no different.
MIKE: It's no different.
Hygiene is very, very important in space.
You want to keep the space ship nice and clean.
You want to keep everybody healthy, so you want to make sure you know what you're doing when you go to the toilet.
This is a toilet seat.
And this is our urinal hose and it allows us to learn how to use the toilet in space and to even practice using the toilet.
This is an actual working toilet.
What's happening is the vacuum's going on inside of there and it's evacuating the air and setting up a vacuum inside of there.
NARRATOR: THE HOSE IS FLEXIBLE, BUT IT NEEDS TO BE PRETTY SNUG TO ITS CUSTOMER IN ORDER TO SUCK AWAY THE LIQUID WASTE TO A SEPARATE TANK.
ANDY: Suction is the key, it sounds like.
MIKE: Suction is very, very important.
Making sure that the materials get taken away and into the commode and doesn't create a problem in the cabin.
So one thing that helps us is our checklist.
Why don't you read off these items here, and if it says check, just tell me check.
ANDY: Check fans sep's same as hose block.
MIKE: Hose block says sep one, so I'm gonna put the fan sep to sep one.
ANDY: Check mode auto.
MIKE: Mode is auto.
ANDY: Check cradle auto.
MIKE: Cradle is auto.
ANDY: Uninstall hose and install urinal funnel.
MIKE: Okay, so this is our hose.
These are our urinal funnels.
We have two types - this is for little girls, this is for little boys.
We don't share these things.
You use your own, you stick to your own.
We've got to install the funnel on the hose.
What's next? ANDY: Urinate.
MIKE: Urinate! NARRATOR: SO TO RECAP, THAT'S THREE SWITCHES, TWO DIFFERENT GENDER FUNNELS, AND FINALLY NUMBER ONE IS A GO.
ANDY: Seems pretty complicated.
MIKE: You think so? You ain't seen nothing yet.
That was only number one.
Number two is even more complicated and, uh, a little intimidating.
So in order to be prepared, we have a special trainer right behind you to help you get the right position on this toilet seat.
This is one of the deepest, darkest secrets of NASA.
No one knows about this stuff.
Look down the hole.
ANDY: Wow, just a camera.
MIKE: There's a camera and there is a TV over here.
This is for alignment practice.
This is targeting practice only.
The hole that you're aiming for on that toilet is much smaller than what we're used to.
NARRATOR: BECAUSE THE HOLE AT THE BOTTOM IS SO SMALL, YOU HAVE TO BE IN THE RIGHT SPOT.
IF YOU MISS, YOU MIGHT END UP WITH AN ESCAPEE FLOATING IN THE CABIN.
MIKE: For this exercise, we're going to do some what of a simulation and we're going to simulate a part of you with this little smiley face circle right here so I will now turn my back and of course, you can keep the camera rolling on him but I'm going to turn my back and you can put that where you think it belongs.
Did you put it there yet? Alright, feel the body position but make it so everything's, are you in a rush to get off of that thing? You don't like it on there, do you? ANDY: People are knocking on the door, you know.
MIKE: Go down the hall.
You want to try to align that target in the right spot.
ANDY: I'm not sure that this is a view I really want to see of myself but you know, to be an astronaut, to survive space, you've got to do this kind of stuff.
MIKE: Yes, there's a price you've got to pay to get to space and survive and you're paying it right now.
NARRATOR: SITTING DOWN CORRECTLY HELPS CREATE A GOOD SEAL, THE TOILET WILL STORE YOUR 'DEPOSIT' WHILE ANY TOILET PAPER IS THEN PLACED IN A SMALL BAG THAT'S LATER PUT INTO THE TRASH.
ANDY: Alright, I'm strapped in, I'm lined up.
I guess I know what comes next.
JIM: Time to concentrate.
NARRATOR: MICROGRAVITY MAY GE US SPACE SICK AND TURN USING THE BATHROOM INTO AN ADVENTURE, BU BEING WEIGHTLESS MAKES ONE AC MORE TOUCH AND GO THAN ANY OTHER - SEX.
AND OUR PROBLEM WITH GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY ARE PUTTING OUR LONG-TERM SURVIVAL ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK.
WE'VE COME UP WITH SOLUTIONS TO EVERYDAY PROBLEMS IN MICROGRAVITY, FROM EATING TO SLEEPING, EVEN USING THE BATHROOM.
BUT THE LACK OF G'S ALSO EFFECTS A MORE IMPORTANT TYPE OF DAILY GRIND.
MARY: One astronaut told me that kama sutra can't begin to cover the possibilities that you could have in, in zero G.
NARRATOR: BUT AS WITH EVERYTHING ELSE IN ZERO G, SEX HAS BOTH ITS UPS AND DOWNS.
MARY: There's a lot of dealing with the fact that you're drifting apart.
You don't have something holding you together.
NARRATOR: GRAVITY IS USUALLY A FRIEND WITH BENEFITS, BUT WHEN IT DISAPPEARS, WE NEED A LITTLE EXTRA HELP STAYING CLOSE.
MARY: The few astronauts that I did speak to about this tended to think that it wouldn't be a problem.
You are clumsy at first and you get better and you experiment and that's the way it goes - you figure it out.
NARRATOR: FOR YEARS, THERE'S BEEN PLENTY OF RUMORS OF ZERO G LOVEMAKING, FROM A HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM ABOARD A 1992 SHUTTLE MISSION TO A RUMORED NASA DOCUMENT THAT DESCRIBE TESTS OF VARIOUS SEXUAL POSITIONS, WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE A HOAX.
THE TRUTH IS NASA HASN'T TRIED IT YET.
MARY: I do not know of anybody who's had sex in space.
Time is so regimented on a short mission.
NARRATOR: EVEN IF THEY COULD FIND THE TIME, THE MECHANICS OF HAVING SEX ARE JUST ONE OF MANY UNCOMFORTABLE COMPLICATIONS.
IN MICRO-GRAVITY, HUMANS HAVE LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE, WHICH MAY MAKE MEN 'SMALLER' THAN THEY'RE USED TO DURING SEX.
THERE'S ALSO NO FLOW OF HEA AWAY FROM THE BODY - WHICH MAKES PEOPLE SWEAT MORE.
EVEN KISSING CAN BE UNPLEASANT.
THE SENSE OF TASTE AND SMELL CAN CHANGE.
JIM: I'm always asked about mating part but as a biologist, and as a physician, that's not what I'm worried about.
I'm worried about the implications what happens after that.
NARRATOR: GRAVITY IS ACTUALLY AN IMPORTAN PART OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.
WITHOUT IT, CONCEPTION MAY NEVER OCCUR AND EVEN IF IT DOES, FETUSES MIGHT NOT GROW PROPERLY.
AND WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE OF ALL THE PROBLEMS ASTRONAUTS HAVE IN MICROGRAVITY OVER THE LONG-TERM.
JIM: The human body begins to adapt to the zero gravity environment.
The heart gets lazy.
We lose mass in the heart.
You lose blood volume, about 10-12%.
SIGRID: We also lose muscle mass.
One of the reasons why we have such strong muscles is because we're working all the time against gravity.
If we don't have that, then our muscles atrophy.
JIM: And the skeletal system continues to lose calcium, which means bone demineralization.
And once you go beyond about a year or 2 years you might be in a situation in which you literally could not come back to Earth.
ANDY: So we've been able to solve some of the short-term problems associated with space travel, but the longer term problems, we don't quite know how we'll deal with those on a long space mission.
NARRATOR: SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO TAKE OU GRAVITY WITH US.
DAVID: One way you could imagine living in space, if you could live in some sort of a space station.
And let's say the space station was round and spun in on itself.
It's constantly forcing you down towards the center with centripetal force.
Even though there's really no gravity in that situation, it's all due to this rotational motion and the centripetal force.
NARRATOR: BUILDING THESE SPACE STATIONS MAY BE FAR OFF IN THE FUTURE, BUT IT HASN'T STOPPED SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS FROM ENVISIONING WHAT THEY MIGHT LOOK LIKE.
ONE DESIGN INNARRATORLVES A SHIP WITH TWO CYLINDERS ATTACHED BY A CENTRAL TEATHER.
EACH CYLINDER CREATES ITS GRAVITY BY PULLING ON THE OTHER ONE AS IT ROTATES.
BOTH WOULD HAVE SEVERAL LEVELS - JUST LIKE A MULTI-STORY OFFICE BUILDING.
BUT A MORE ADVANCED SOLUTION CONCEPT CALLED A STANFORD TORUS.
THE EXTERIOR OF THE SHIP SPINS LIKE A GIANT WHEEL, ROTATING ONCE PER MINUTE, BRINGING ALL THE GRAVITY WE WOULD EVER NEED TO SURVIVE.
MAN: Look at that.
.
NARRATOR: TIPPING THE GRAVITY SCALE IN OUR FANARRATORR IS JUS ONE PLOY TO SURVIVE THE MINEFIELD OF SPACE.
AS SOON AS WE CRACK THAT PROBLEM, ANOTHER PITFALL IS WAITING FOR US - PRESSURE - AND ITS RISKS MAKE OVERCOMING GRAVITY SEEM LIKE A CAKEWALK.
WE MIGHT THINK THAT OVERCOMING GRAVITY WOULD PUT US ON STABLE GROUND IN SPACE, BUT SOMETHING ELSE STILL MAKES OUR SURVIVAL A SHAKEY PROPOSITION - PRESSURE.
HOW MUCH OF AN EFFECT CAN PRESSURE REALLY HAVE? WITH A 55 GALLON DRUM, WE CAN PUT EARTH'S AIR PRESSURE TO THE ULTIMATE STRENGTH TEST.
STEVE: Mike,how thick is a layer of air over the planet Earth? MIKE: Well, we say the boundary of space is about 50 miles up.
STEVE: If I could take a square inch of that air and weigh it, it would weigh about 14.
7 pounds.
MIKE: You'd think it'd weigh nothing.
STEVE: No, about 15 pounds.
So every square inch of this barrel, there's 14.
7 pounds.
That's about a bowling ball.
NARRATOR: BUT THAT'S JUST ONE SQUARE INCH.
ADD UP ALL THE INCHES AND THERE'S AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF AIR PUSHING DOWN ON THIS BARREL.
STEVE: There's about 30,000 pounds of pressure over the entire surface of this barrel.
That's a lot of pressure.
So why doesn't this just collapse with that much weight? MIKE: Because we have pressure in the inside as well.
STEVE: That's right.
NARRATOR: THE INSIDE PRESSURE AND THE OUTSIDE PRESSURE ARE IDENTICAL, COEXISTING IN PERFECT BALANCE.
BUT IF YOU WERE TO TAKE ONE OF THEM AWAY, YOU'LL SEE SOME REAL POWER UNLEASHED.
STEVE: Now what we're going to do is try to remove or lower the pressure on th e inside.
MIKE: You've got to get the air out of there.
STEVE: Got to get the air out, some of it anyways.
We're going to use an old fashion method.
We're going to use some steam to push the air out.
And then we're going to condense the steam back to water and that'll leave a partial vacuum inside.
And what do you think gonna happen? MIKE: I don't know, if it was a small can, like an aluminum can, I could see it crushing but this is a pretty big barrel.
This isn't a rinky-dink little can here so I'm not really sure.
I'm a little skeptical.
STEVE: We'll just see.
Now we've got water inside, so I want you to put on your safety glasses please.
A very good idea.
MIKE: Alright.
Let her rip.
STEVE: We've got some heat going now.
STEVE: Well, I'll tell you what we can do.
As a backup, I brought along a flamethrower.
That'll work 1 seconds MIKE: This is how we barbeque in Texas.
STEVE: That's going to increase the speed of boiling.
MIKE: We're just rocking and rolling.
STEVE: Okay, we have steam coming out.
NARRATOR: NOW THAT MOST OF THE WATER VAPOR HAS ESCAPED, GETTING LOW PRESSURE INSIDE REQUIRES TWO MORE STEPS STEVE: So why don't you get a wrench? NARRATOR: SCREWING THE TOP ON AND GETTING THIS BARREL A LITTLE CHILLED.
STEVE: It's going to take quite a while for that barrel to cool down, so we're going to speed up the cooling process using the water.
Does that make sense? And that's going to create a lower pressure inside the barrel, and if there's a significant difference between the inside and the outside, the barrel might let us know that.
MIKE: Like a little dent? STEVE: Well, maybe a little dent.
Let's see what happens.
Temperature's dropping.
Whoa! Let's see what happens.
Temperature's dropping.
Whoa! MIKE: Holy cow, what did you do? STEVE: I didn't do that.
MIKE: You left something inside of there.
STEVE: Man, that's hard on an old man.
I didn't think I could move that fast.
That I s amazing, isn't it? MIKE: No way, STEVE: Way.
Way.
Look at that.
Now, is there anything touching the barrel? What's touching the barrel? MIKE: The air pressure STEVE: Air.
Air is crushing the barrel.
MIKE: You've got to be, look at that thing.
STEVE: Yeah, it looks like I sat on it.
MIKE: So that's the amount of pressure amount all the time? STEVE: All the time.
That's how we live our daily lives on this planet.
MIKE: Right on the edge.
STEVE: Right on the edge of being crushed.
NARRATOR: ON EARTH, WE DON'T GE FLATTENED BY AIR BECAUSE OUR OWN INTERNAL PRESSURE IS ALWAYS PUSHING BACK AGAINST IT.
BUT ON A PLANET LIKE VENUS, WE'D BE FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE.
DUE TO ITS INCREDIBLY THICK ATMOSPHERE, THE PRESSURE ON VENUS IS 90 TIMES GREATER THAN OUR PLANET'S.
IT'S SO STRONG, YOUR EYES WOULD CAVE IN AND BURST, YOUR EARDRUMS WOULD RUPTURE, ALL OF YOUR SKIN AND MUSCLES WOULD BE COMPRESSED, EVEN YOUR BONES COULD COLLAPSE, AND YOUR INTERNAL ORGANS WOULD BE CRUSHED.
THIS ALL HAPPENS BECAUSE THE BODY WOULD BE UNDER 1, 350 POUNDS OF PRESSURE - THE EQUIVALENT OF A LARGE COW.
BUT IT'S NOT JUST ONE COW - IT'S ONE COW FOR EVERY SQUARE INCH OF YOUR BODY.
FORTUNATELY, NO ONE IS LOOKING TO LIVE ON VENUS.
BUT SPACE, THAT'S A DIFFERENT STORY.
AND ONCE OUTSIDE THE PLANET'S ATMOSPHERE, THE DANGER ISN'T TOO MUCH PRESSUREIT'S TOO LITTLE.
AS THE U.
S.
AIR FORCE FOUND OUT IN 1960, WITH NEARLY TRAGIC RESULTS.
PILOT JOSEPH KITTINGER WAS CHOSEN TO CONDUCT A SERIES OF TESTS MEANT TO IMPROVE THE CHANCE OF SURVIVAL AFTER BAILING OUT AT HIGH ALTITUDES.
MARY: He's like 'I'll do it!' I think his quote was 'you don't get any of the fun stuff unless you volunteer.
NARRATOR: KITTINGER ASCENDED TO THE EDGE OF SPACE IN NOTHING MORE THAN A SMALL ALUMINUM CAPSULE, CALLED A GONDOLA, ATTACHED TO THE BOTTOM OF A 170-FOOT-DIAMETER BALLOON.
MARY: He's going up in a little gondola and he's at, you know, 100,000 feet, and nobody's done this before.
NARRATOR: AT NEARLY 19 AND A HALF MILES ABOVE THE EARTH, KITTINGER BEGINS THE TEST BY JUMPING.
JIM: He did the world's highest parachute jump.
And to do that, he had a full pressure suit.
And unfortunately, some bad things happened to him on the way down.
DAVID: There was a leak in the glove of his pressurized suit, so he could not protect his hand from the lack of pressure at 100,000 feet.
ANDY: When you take that pressure away, the fluids in our body have nothing to push against, so they just try to get out and they'll just take the easiest route to get out of the body.
NARRATOR: KITTINGER'S SUI PROTECTED THE REST OF HIS BODY, BUT WITHOUT EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE PRESSING DOWN ON HIM, HIS HAND INFLATED TO TWICE IT'S NORMAL SIZE.
DAVID: His hand was the size of a balloon and apparently he did eventually recover.
NARRATOR: BUT THE GLOVE INCIDEN SHOWED THAT SURVIVING IN THE VOID WAS STILL A SHAKEY PROPOSITION, AND IF A LACK OF PRESSURE IN EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE IS DANGEROUS, THEN THE COMPLETE VACUUM OF SPACE MAY BE THE BIGGEST THREA TO OUR SURVIVAL YET.
NARRATOR: THE HUMAN BODY WALKS A FINE LINE WITH PRESSURE.
TOO MUCH AND I COULD BE CRUSHED.
BUT TOO LITTLE AND IT HAS ANOTHER SET OF PROBLEMS ENTIRELY AND THESE ARE SPACE'S WORST ABUSES YET.
DAVID: There's no air pressure in space and we evolved and our bodies grew in a situation where we have a lot of air pressure on us and we're accustomed to that.
Our breathing requires that sort of pressure for things to feel normal.
NARRATOR: AN ALTITUDE CHAMBER CAN TRAIN ASTRONAUTS TO EXPERIENCE LESS AND LESS PRESSURE, AS WELL AS LOW OXYGEN LEVELS, BY PUMPING THE AIR OUT OF A TIGHTLY SEALED ROOM, SIMULATING THE VACUUM OF SPACE.
WHEN THEY'RE LEFT BREATHLESS, TEST SUBJECTS USE THA EXPERIENCE TO HELP THEM RECOGNIZE THE WARNING SIGNS OF A PRESSURE LEAK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.
AND INHALING DEEPLY BACK AT NASTAR, DAVID KAPLAN IS READYING FOR THIS ONE LAST ROUND OF TORMENT.
DAVID KAPLAN: What I'm about to do is undergo a test of simulating high altitudes.
What I'm going to experience is hypoxia or altitude sickness.
And altitude sickness will feel like tingling in my skin, I'll certainly have more trouble breathing and trouble staying conscious.
We will have a visual guide here, which is my friend Bob over here.
Bob is filled with water dyed red, so it feels a little like blood.
We'll see how well Bob does.
SCIENTIST: Okay, gentlemen, we're going to start a 3,000-foot per minute descent to 25,000 feet.
Here we go.
Everything fine? DAVID: My ears feel a little bit of pressure, but they're popping continuously.
SCIENTIST: That's normal.
Alright, we're at 25,000 feet.
Just remove the mask.
Remember what I told you.
The first head bob I see, you're going back on oxygen.
DAVID: Gog it.
NARRATOR: THERE'S VERY LITTLE OXYGEN IN THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW.
WITHOUT IT, ONE OF THE FIRS EFFECTS SHOULD BE DAVID'S BRAIN FUNCTION SCREECHING TO A HALT.
SOME BASIC TEST QUESTIONS WILL SEE HOW HE'S DOING.
SCIENTIST: So hold your head up straight and steady and start the worksheet David.
What's the first question they're asking you, the first math problem? David, you with me? DAVID: I'm with you.
SCIENTIST: Okay, he's officially hypoxic.
He's not responding.
Put the mask back on.
Start breathing for me David, nice and steady.
NARRATOR: DAVID'S BODY IS OXYGEN DEPRIVED, WHICH MEANS HIS CELLS CAN'T DO THEIR JOBS, AND THAT CAUSES A WIDE VARIETY OF SYMPTOMS.
DAVID: I'm feeling dizzy.
SCIENTIST: Guess what, you were pretty non-responsive there about 10 seconds ago.
We had to call it.
That was it.
The exercise is finished.
You got hypoxic.
DAVID: Oh boy, that's disappointing.
DAVID KAPLAN: Once we got to 25,000 feet, he asked me to take this written test.
By the time I got to the third question, I basically lost consciousness and then the next thing I heard was mask, and I thought, 'Oh, he's telling me to put the mask back on' and I felt around and discovered my mask was already on.
And so if I was in space, and my ability to reason was the first thing to go, then I'd be in deep trouble.
We do these sorts of training so you see those symptoms early enough so that you can take corrective measures.
NARRATOR: BUT AT 25,000 FEET, THERE'S STILL PLENTY OF EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE ABOVE YOU.
TO SEE THE TRUE EFFECTS OF LOW PRESSURE, YOU HAVE TO GO HIGHER.
DAVID COULDN'T POSSIBLY HANDLE IT, BUT WHAT ABOUT BOB? DAVID KAPLAN: We're going to let Bob drive us all the way to a 100,000 feet which is basically getting up to space.
You ready Bob? Bob is filled with water dyed red, so it feels a little bit like blood.
The pressure's getting so low, that the temperature in which water boils is getting close to the normal air temperature.
If you get to the vacuum of space, this is exactly what would happen to every liquid in your body.
And we've got a nice pitcher of ice there, too.
The ice is staying frozen because it's still cold in there.
The water's boiling because the lack of pressure.
It's not boiling because it's hot, it's boiling because nothing's keeping it suppressed.
This is a lot worse than just passing out.
We're talking about boiling your insides away.
If your spacesuit lost pressure, this would be a violent way to go.
NARRATOR: BUT H EXACTLY COULD AN ASTRONAUT'S SPACESUI LOSE PRESSURE? THE ANSWER COULD BE OUR DEADLIEST, MOST UNPREDICTABLE THREA YET - MICROMETEORITES.
MIKE: If a meteorite could pierce all the way through the layers of the suit, down to the pressure bladder and actually break that as well to create a hole, then you would lose your breathing oxygen, you'd lose the pressure that keeps you alive.
It would be a really bad day.
NARRATOR: IN SPACE, THIS BAD DAY CAN HAPPEN IN LESS THAN 2 MINUTES AFTER IMPACT.
SINCE A MICROMETEORITE STRIKE THAT DEPRESSURIZES THE SUIT ALSO MAKES IT LOSE OXYGEN, AN ASTRONAUT HAS TO MAKE A QUICK DECISION.
IF HE HOLDS HIS BREATH, HIS LUNGS WILL HYPEREXPAND INSTANTLY, FORCING AIR INTO HIS HEART, CAUSING A HEART ATTACK.
IF HE DOESN'T HOLD HIS BREATH, HE HAS MORE TIME, BUT NOT MUCH.
AFTER ABOUT 10-15 SECONDS WITHOUT OXYGEN, HE'LL PASS OUT AND HIS LUNGS WILL START TO DIE.
WITHIN 30-60 SECONDS, GASES START TO ESCAPE HIS BODY, SALIVA ON HIS TONGUE BEGINS TO BOIL AWAY, AND BY A MINUTE HIS BLOOD IS RAPIDLY EXPELLING ANY REMAINING OXYGEN.
BUT DESPITE ALL THIS, IF WITHIN 90 SECONDS HIS PARTNER CAN PATCH HIM UP, RECOMPRESSING HIS SUIT, HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SURVIVE.
FUTURE SPACESUITS ARE BEING DESIGNED TO BETTER WITHSTAND ATTACKS LIKE THIS ONE, BUT THERE'S ONE DANGER THEY'RE STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP WITH - RADIATION.
ANDY: The sun is putting out radiation all the time.
That's high-energy radiation.
You get too much of it and you get burned or you could get cancer.
NARRATOR: AND IT'S PROVING TO BE THE MOST DEADLY CHALLENGE OF ALL, CASTING DOUBT ON ANY HOPE OF OUR LONG TERM SURVIVAL IN SPACE.
IF WE'RE GOING TO SURVIVE IN SPACE, ONE EXECUTIONER STANDS ABOVE ALL THE REST - RADIATION.
AND OUT IN THE VOID, THIS INVISIBLE THREAT IS LIKE A RUNAWAY FREIGHT TRAIN.
ANDY: Radiation is basically high-energy particles and when they hit your body they can do a lot of damage.
When most people think of radiation, they think of things like nuclear bombs.
But in space you hit radiation from the Sun, you hit cosmic rays, and you don't have the Earth's atmosphere to protect you.
NARRATOR: WE MEASURE RADIATION EXPOSURE IN UNITS CALLED MILLISIEVERTS, OR MSV'S ONE OF WHICH IS THE EQUIVALEN OF ABOUT THREE CHEST X-RAYS.
THE AVERAGE HUMAN RECEIVES AROUND 150 MSV'S OVER THE COURSE OF THEIR LIFETIME FROM NATURAL RADIATION, LIKE THE SUN'S RAYS.
SIGRID: We're very fortunate to live on Earth, where we have this atmosphere and this magnetic field that actually deflects these energetic particles.
NARRATOR: BUT AWAY FROM EARTH'S SURFACE, EXPOSURE SHOOTS UP EXPONENTIALLY.
ASTRONAUTS ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION RECEIVE THAT LIFETIME'S WORTH OF RADIATION IN JUST 6 MONTHS.
SIGRID: If we go into space, we lose the atmosphere and we also lose magnetic fields, especially if we're going to places like the moon and beyond.
NARRATOR: RADIATION IS A DANGER ALMOST ANYWHERE WE GO.
EVEN OUR CLOSE NEIGHBOR MARS IS NO SAFE HAVEN.
ITS ATMOSPHERE IS LESS THAN 1% THE THICKNESS OF EARTH'S.
IF YOU WALKED ON THE SURFACE WITHOUT PROTECTION, YOU'D BE A SITTING DUCK FOR FREQUENT BLASTS OF RADIATION.
WITHIN A FEW MONTHS, YOUR ENTIRE BODY STARTS TO GET GRADUALLY MANGLED AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL.
THE LINING OF THE INTESTINES SHRIVELS, COMPLETELY SHUTTING DOWN YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.
INSIDE YOUR BONES, MARROW THA PRODUCES NEW BLOOD CELLS STOPS MAKING NORMAL CELLS AND PRODUCES FREAKISHLY MALFORMED ONES.
BUT WORST OF ALL, YOUR ENTIRE NERNARRATORUS SYSTEM CRAWLS TO A STOP AS THE CONSTANT BOMBARDMEN CAUSES NERVES TO WITHER AND DIE.
COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS BECOME LIKE SOMEONE WITH EARLY ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.
AND WITH YOUR HAIR TURNING GRAY AND YOUR SKIN WRINKLING.
IT WOULD BE LIKE AGING DECADES IN JUST A SPAN OF 2- 3 YEARS.
WITH ALL OF THIS DEADLY ENERGY FIRING AT US FROM ALL DIRECTIONS IN SPACE, IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE THERE'S NO HOPE FOR OUR SURVIVAL.
BUT NEW RADIATION SHIELDING TECHNIQUES ARE AT THE TOP OF NASA AND OTHER SPACE AGENCIES' WISH LIST.
SIGRID: So what NASA's looking at now is can they actually build spacecraft out of the same types of material that our garbage bags are made out of? These plastics actually can protect better from these cosmic rays than the aluminum that we've used in the past to build spacecraft.
Another thing we can do is have tanks of our fuel that propel the spacecraft actually surrounding the living quarters of the astronauts.
The fuel also provides some type of protection where these cosmic rays will actually then embed in the fuel and won't actually make it into the living quarters.
NARRATOR: WITH MULTIPLE POSSIBILITIES DEVELOPING IN RADIATION SHIELDING, WE'RE CLOSE TO TAKING ON ALMOST ALL THE RIGORS OF SPACE.
DAVID: Human beings were not built to be in space - that's for sure - but I think all forms of exploration are great and if we actually want to survive out there, we definitely have a threshold to get over to get ourselves into space.
ANDY: We're pretty smart monkeys and I think that as long as we keep developing new technology, we've got a chance of surviving in space.
SIGRID: As a species, we have accomplished so much in our past, and I think that if we were collectively trying to survive space, we can do it.
We can accomplish anything.