What would astronauts pack for a trip to outer space, and what will they do if they forget something important?

September 11, 2022  12:23

Preparing for a space mission is much like preparing for a vacation, according to astrophysicist Joel Parker: in both cases, you first need to understand where you are going, what you can expect there, what you can find on-site, and what you need to take with you –  and based on this information you can pack your bags.

Dr. Joel Parker is no stranger to space travel. He is the deputy principal investigator of the ultraviolet spectrograph Alice on the Rosetta mission and a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission to Pluto. He was also project leader for a similar ultraviolet spectrograph on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission.

Dr. Parker also worked at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where he studied hot massive stars in neighboring galaxies using data from ground-based observatories around the world as well as the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Ultraviolet Explorer spacecraft, and the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope that was aboard the Space Shuttle. He has also studied solar system objects such as comets, the moon, asteroids, and Kuiper Belt objects. 

A global goal and small subgoals

Talking to NEWS.am Tech, Dr. Joel Parker noted that when spaceflight moves from video games and movies to our reality and astronauts fly to explore new planets, the contents of their ‘suitcases’ will depend on specific mission objectives.

“First we need to figure out what exactly we want to find out. Are we interested in the origin of the solar system and planets? Or do we want to understand how stars are formed? Or understand the conditions under which life can evolve? When the global goal is clear, it needs to be broken down into many smaller subtasks. Do we want to look at the surface of a planet to understand what it's made of? Or study the atmosphere, to see if there are chemicals there that might be suitable for life? When the goal is broken down into many subtasks, we will understand what tools we need to take on the spacecraft,” he explained.

Anyone who has gone on vacation at least once in their life has done about the same thing that scientists do when preparing for a space mission, he added.

“If you're going on vacation, you should have a clear idea of what you're going to do there. Is your goal just to take a rest or to visit new places? If you're planning a passive vacation, for example, what can you use? If you're going to sleep and it's going to be noisy around, perhaps you should bring earplugs? As you think through the details of your vacation, you begin to figure out what to put in your suitcase. Scientists do the same thing when they pack their ‘suitcase’ for a trip to space,” he said.

Though, unlike a vacation trip, there is no room for extra stuff on a space mission. On vacation, you can take things with you that are hard to call necessary – video games, books, maps... But in a spaceship, extra weight is extra cost and extra complexity.

Therefore, if there is an opportunity to find or make something on the spot – on the explored planet itself – and not take it with you, this opportunity should be used.

The specialist noted that in preparation for a mission to another planet, it would be necessary to understand whether there is anything on site that the astronauts will need. What kind of atmosphere is there? How much oxygen, nitrogen, and other substances are there? Will it be possible to breathe there without a spacesuit? Are there any materials on the planet's surface from which oxygen and water can be obtained? 

To find out all this and to make an initial study of the area, robots will be the first to fly to the explored planets. And based on the information received from them, it will be possible to pack "suitcases" for human astronauts.

What will the astronauts do if they forget something important?

If you forget or leave something out during an ordinary trip, for example to another city, there is probably nothing to worry about. You were promised good weather, but it started raining and you don't have the right clothes? You can go to the store and buy an umbrella or raincoat. 

During the flight to another planet, it is unlikely you will find a store with everything you need (unless the planet, of course, is in the Mass Effect Andromeda universe, where in the lost caves on the planets in the distant Andromeda galaxy you can find the chests with ammunition compatible with Earth weapons).

So what would the astronauts do if they suddenly discovered that they had forgotten something important?

The likelihood that astronauts might “forget” something really important for a space mission is, shall we say, extremely small. As Dr. Parker noted, a team of specialists work on the preparations for any mission and make lists of everything that needs to get on the spacecraft. They work on these lists for quite a long time, trying to anticipate everything that can be anticipated. And far more than once, they check with these lists and double-check everything before giving “permission” for the departure of the ship.

However, as Joel Parker pointed out, some unforeseen situations can happen during a space mission that requires tools that are not on hand. Help the astronauts in such a situation can be a 3D printer, which can be used directly on the spot to print the necessary tool. 

In addition, the astronauts will have to navigate the situation: maybe there are resources on the planet that can be used to make what they need. Maybe they do not have enough water with them, but there are substances on the planet from which it can be obtained. Or maybe resources can be found right there that can be used to build structures that protect against radiation?

According to Dr. Parker, there have probably been situations on real space missions where astronauts needed something they did not have. Then, most likely, they either made do without the tool or found an alternative solution: after all, resourcefulness is an important trait for those who venture into space. And in the era of missions to other planets, this is unlikely to change.

And when will flights to other planets become a reality?

The first planet that a person from Earth will set foot on will most likely be Mars. It, according to many scientists, will become the home for the first extraterrestrial colony and, perhaps, the hope of mankind when the conditions of life on Earth deteriorate significantly.

NASA plans to send astronauts to Mars by the late 2030s or early 2040s. Most likely, SpaceX will land people on the red planet even earlier, and two California startups, Relativity Space and Impulse Space, threatened to do it before it.

As for other planets, a group of scientists from the US, China, and the Netherlands believe that humanity will be able to reach the asteroid belt by 2073, Jupiter by 2103, and Saturn by 2132. However, it should be remembered that these are only theoretical calculations with several variables, and it is still difficult to say whether everything will go according to plan in real life compiled by scientists.


 
 
 
 
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