How do astronauts function in their spacesuits?

Astronauts wear special suits while they're working in space, and these spacewalks can last for hours. In this episode, Marshall Brain explains how astronauts take care of their basic needs while wearing spacesuits.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Brainstuff from house stuff works dot com, where
smart happens. Hi im mershiall brain with today's question, how
do astronauts function in their space suits for hours at
a time. Astronauts who spacewalk outside the Space Shuttle and

(00:23):
the International Space Station can work for up to seven
hours in the current space suit, which is also called
the extra Vehicular Mobility Unit or e m U. The
e m U is a marvel of technical achievement with
a twelve million dollar price tag. Despite the advanced technology,
though the mechanics used to meet the astronauts basic needs

(00:46):
for food, water, and waste elimination are surprisingly low tech. First,
there's eating. There's a slot in the hard upper torso
or h u T portion of the e m U
for a right paper covered fruit and cereal bar. The
bar is designed so that the astronaut can take a
bite and pull the remainder up. The entire bar must

(01:09):
be eaten at once to prevent crumbs from floating around
in the helmet. However, most astronauts prefer to eat prior
to the spacewalk and not use this bar. But you
can imagine going seven hours without food might be a problem.
Then there's drinking. The space suit has an in suit
drink bag or i d B, which is a plastic

(01:29):
pouch mounted inside the h U T. The I d
B can hold thirty two ounces or one point nine
liters of water and has a small tube like a
straw that fits up next to the astronaut's mouth. The
astronaut can move his or her head within the helmet
and suck water through that tube. Then there's eliminating waste.
Each spacewalking astronaut wears a large absorbent diaper called a

(01:54):
maximum Absorption Garment or MG, to collect urine and feces
while in the space suit. The astronaut disposes of the
MG when the spacewalk is over and he or she
gets dressed into regular work clothes. For more on this
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(02:16):
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