Featured Image Credit: WIRED/CSA/YouTube
When it comes to the world's most impressive jobs, astronaut is definitely up there.
After all, what's cooler than blasting off hundreds of thousands of miles in a giant spaceship and discovering everything space has to offer?
But, there are a lot of misconceptions out there about space.
One former astronaut has sat down to set the record straight, debunking some common myths, including what would happen if you got sucked out of airlock without a space suit.
Advert
Chris Hadfield is a former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot who flew two Space Shuttle missions and spent 166 days on the International Space Station.
Speaking to WIRED, he said: "There's this common perception that you will immediately fry to a crisp by the unfiltered, unadulterated solar radiation if you get sucked out of the airlock."
The reality, however, is far more gruesome.
"In the shade in space it's like minus 250 degrees," he explained. "But the part of you that's in the sun is plus 250 degrees at least. It's like lying on a red hot stove with a piece of dry ice on your back.
"Your lungs are going to be sucked flat immediately. But even worse than that is your blood is going to boil like opening a can of pop where suddenly all the little bubbles come out because there's no air pressure around you.
Hadfield continued: "So, simultaneously, you're going to freeze, boil, burn, get the bends and not be able to breathe - not a good way to go.
"I've done two space walks and I was very thankful to have a space suit around my body so that none of those things happened to me."
But these bulky, unisex suits aren't exactly comfortable, as revealed by former NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman in her book Sharing Space.
While she never really noticed the discomfort when she was working, she'd see some serious damage at the end of a session.
"I’m always surprised to see myself in the mirror," she said. "My arms and legs are covered with red and purple bruises and abrasions. Sometimes I’m bleeding from where the suit and I battled to get into an especially tricky position.
"My fingers are raw from being mashed inside the gloves, and the nail beds are often bruised, occasionally leading to the loss of a nail. I’ve been so focused on the task at hand that I didn’t even notice until now.
"I crush my arms and torso against the sides and armholes whenever I try to reach things. Even with the padding, I’m a mess when I take it off."
