In space, astronauts don’t have gravity to keep them in place. That makes doing even simple tasks difficult. Gene Cernan was the first astronaut who worked on a task outside a spaceship. He said of the experience, “Every time I’d push or turn a valve, it would turn my entire body at zero gravity. I had nothing to hold on to.” As he worked, Gene Cernan’s heart rate and temperature went so high that his fellow astronauts worried that he wouldn’t survive.

Think about routine tasks that astronauts might need to do inside and outside a spaceship. Choose several tasks, and describe the features the ship and spacesuits should have to account for zero gravity as the astronaut completes the task. Use Newton’s laws of motion in your analysis.

Question

In space, astronauts don’t have gravity to keep them in place. That makes doing even simple tasks difficult. Gene Cernan was the first astronaut who worked on a task outside a spaceship. He said of the experience, “Every time I’d push or turn a valve, it would turn my entire body at zero gravity. I had nothing to hold on to.” As he worked, Gene Cernan’s heart rate and temperature went so high that his fellow astronauts worried that he wouldn’t survive.

Think about routine tasks that astronauts might need to do inside and outside a spaceship. Choose several tasks, and describe the features the ship and spacesuits should have to account for zero gravity as the astronaut completes the task. Use Newton’s laws of motion in your analysis.