For ordinary people, they can only see the astronaut through the TV screen. It is very difficult to know, contact or learn about the real daily life of an astronaut, even before and during their “space conquest” mission.
In fact, each astronaut has undergone rigorous technical and psychological training. After all, flying into space is not trivial, if you leave the earth in space, you will lose your precious life if you are not careful.
During a recruitment round of NASA astronauts to the Moon, they revealed quite strict requirements such as:
Applicants must meet qualification requirements such as having at least a master’s degree in a STEM field such as biology, physics, computer science or mathematics;
Must have professional flying experience, at least 1,000 hours as a captain for jet aircraft or 1,500 hours for commercial aircraft;
Must have a very good physical foundation such as 20/20 eyesight, blood pressure not exceeding 140/90, complete diving certificate and military-style underwater survival training…
The position of NASA astronaut of course has very strict standards. Photo: NASA.
These are just the initial selection requirements. Those who pass will likely continue to receive further training and screening to meet job requirements in the long run.
As can be seen, the environment in space is very harsh, so astronauts always go through many classes of selection and training, they have to go through a series of tests and physical tests.
One of them is special requirements for appearance, such as nails. Although now, advances in science and technology have helped people skip this step, but in the past, all astronauts were forced to “remove” their nails before actually going into space.
Some people believe that this regulation is put in place because the pressure in space is different from the pressure of the earth, so astronauts’ nails may not be able to withstand the pressure during growth. At the same time the blood cannot stop working because of this, so all the nails are removed.
In addition, others think that, due to being forced to live in space for a long time, their nails will grow longer and longer. If the nails grow too fast, affecting the costumes and tools, they are forced to cut the nails. But the clipped foundation will also easily fly around, potentially affecting equipment in the spacecraft.
We all know that every operation in the universe needs to be calculated to ensure absolute accuracy. If fingernail shards fly around and land on delicate devices, they can cause scratches, worse than damage, and lead to serious consequences. So astronauts will pull all their fingernails before going into space.
In this regard, scientists give an explanation around the following reasons:
First, to ensure maximum life and health, astronauts will undergo a series of air pressure tests before taking to the sky, which is an environment they can tolerate.
Second, even if the nails fall off directly, they will still grow, some astronauts need to work continuously in space for more than a year. If they keep worrying that the spacecraft’s operation will be affected by nail problems, it will affect their work.
Moreover, space exploration is very serious, cannot go wrong in many places, and the safety of the astronauts must also be considered. Because the environment in space is very different from that of Earth, not only nails, but also hair grows rapidly in that environment.
If the nails grow very fast in space, then under the pressure of the vacuum, the nails will fall off and this also hurts the astronauts a lot.
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield once shared: “They will fly everywhere, not fall to the ground, so they cannot be swept away. Sometimes they fly into the eyes, even into the airways.”
Indeed, the cut nails could become space junk, which could not be handled well at that time. They move freely in zero gravity and can easily get caught in the spacecraft’s vital instruments, possibly causing instrument failure.
Sometimes, an accident caused by a nail can turn into a major accident. In severe cases, it will even put the lives of astronauts in danger.
So the first thing to do is to prevent it from growing too fast, which is why astronauts eventually pull out their nails.
Fortunately, with the development of science and technology, astronauts now have a new way of handling nails that is no longer required to cut nails, nor is it as strict as required. initially again.
Source: Huffpost