Space suits act like a suit of armour. They stop an astronaut’s blood boiling in space, and reflect the Sun’s dangerous rays. They have a built-in backpack, containing an oxygen supply, battery and cooling system.
Amazing! Astronauts are water-cooled! A system of tubes sewn into the space suit carries cool liquid around to keep the astronaut’s temperature normal.
Is it true? Cosmonauts took off in their underwear.
Yes. In the early days of Russian space travel, space suits were worn only for spacewalks. Some cosmonauts just wore their underwear at take-off time!
Do astronauts wear space suits all the time?
No. They wear them for spacewalks, and during take-off, landing or when they dock with another craft. The rest of the time, astronauts wear shorts and a tee shirt.
How do you go to the toilet in a space suit?
Astronauts often need to wee during take-off! Women wear an extra-absorbent nappy inside their suit. Some men prefer to do this too, but others wear a special sleeve that carries wee to a storage pouch inside the suit.
Picture Credit : Google