Spacewalks

You might have heard of the very first steps on Moon taken by Neil Armstrong. But do you know about the first steps of mankind out in space. Well! We are talking about Space Walks?

Space walks are not as same as we walk on Earth. Spacewalk is when an Astronaut gets out of a vehicle in space. Spacewalks are also designated as EVA that stands for EXTRA VEHICULAR ACTIVITY. The first person to go on a spacewalk was Alexei Leonov, in 1965, March (five years before the first Moon Walks). He was a Russian Astronaut and the walk lasted for 10 minutes. The second Astronaut who went on a spacewalk of 23 minutes was Ed White.


Today, astronauts go on spacewalks outside the International Space Station (A Laboratory in Space continuously circling the Earth). Spacewalks usually last between five and eight hours, depending on the job. The world record for the most spacewalks is held by Russian astronaut Anatoly Solovyev. He has been on 16 spacewalks and has spent more than 82 hours outside in space. That's almost 3 ½ days of walking in space! NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria holds the U.S. record for the most spacewalks. He has done 10 spacewalks and spent more than 67 hours.

Astronauts go on spacewalks for many reasons. Spacewalks let astronauts work outside their spacecraft while still in space. Astronauts can do science experiments on a spacewalk. Experiments can be placed on the outside of a spacecraft. This lets scientists learn how being in space affects different things like gravity, air and other factors.

Spacewalks also let astronauts test new equipment. They can repair satellites or spacecraft that are in space. By going on spacewalks, astronauts can fix things instead of bringing them back to Earth to fix.

When astronauts go on spacewalks, they wear spacesuits to keep themselves safe. Inside spacesuits, astronauts have the oxygen they need to breathe. They have the water they need to drink.

Astronauts put on their spacesuits several hours before a spacewalk. The suits are pressurized. This means that the suits are filled with oxygen. Once in their suits; astronauts breathe pure oxygen for a few hours.

Astronauts are now ready to get out of their spacecraft. They leave the spacecraft through a special door called an airlock. The airlock has two doors. When astronauts are inside the spacecraft, the airlock is airtight so no air can get out. When astronauts get ready to go on a spacewalk, they go through the first door and lock it tight behind them. They can then open the second door without any air getting out of the spacecraft. After a spacewalk, astronauts go back inside through the airlock.

Are they safe outside?
When on a spacewalk, astronauts use safety ropes like Tethers to stay close to their spacecraft. One end is hooked to the spacewalker. The other end is connected to the vehicle. The safety tethers keep astronauts from floating away into space. Astronauts also use tethers to keep tools from floating away. They tether their tools to their spacesuits.

Another way astronauts stay safe during spacewalks is by wearing a SAFER. SAFER is worn like a backpack. It uses small jet thrusters to let an astronaut move around in space. If an astronaut is not connected to the vehicle and floats away, SAFER would help them fly back to the spacecraft. Astronauts control SAFER with a small joystick, like on a video game.

How Do Astronauts get trained for Spacewalks?
One way astronauts train for spacewalks is by going for a swim. Floating in space is a lot like floating in water. Astronauts practice spacewalks underwater in a large swimming pool. The pool is called the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, or NBL. It is near NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The pool holds 6.2 million gallons of water. Astronauts train seven hours in the pool for every one hour they will spend on a spacewalk.

Another way astronauts practice for a spacewalk is by using virtual reality. This is sort of like playing a video game. Astronauts wear a helmet with a video screen inside. They also wear special gloves. A video of what they will see during a spacewalk is shown on the screen inside the helmet. When the astronaut moves, the special gloves allow the movements to be shown with the video. The virtual reality simulation looks and feels just like a spacewalk.