Astronautics

Under the orange launch and entry suits we wear a pair of long tights. Since you are likely to be in the suit for several hours and since you can not open it up in any way to go, we also wear a diaper for adults. As soon as we reach orbit we remove the suits and put on regular clothes for the duration of the mission. The suits are put back on just before orbit. The EVA suits are the same with an added cooling garment that goes on over the long tights. It is like another pair of long johns with small plastic tubing woven all through it. Chilled water is circulated through it to get rid of body heat and solar heat.

Astronautics is the theory and practice of navigation beyond the Earth's atmosphere. In other words, it is the science and technology of spaceflight.

It depends on how well the spaceship is designed to handle the heat and light. Even an astronaut in space around Earth could get burned if he or she did not have a good spacesuit on, one side would get fried by the sun and the other would freeze in the dark. by this we get to know why the astronauts have to wear such bulky spacesuits.

All astronauts have some special skills, either as pilots or scientists. So they have all gone through college and gotten some experience in their particular field. I do not know of any age requirement but the experience that is needed would probably mean that the astronauts are at least 25, more likely over 30.

Well, there is not any pressure because space is nearly a vacuum. That is one of the reasons that astronauts wear spacesuits.

In order to breathe on the shuttle, they take along a supply of oxygen. There are also filters that take carbon dioxide out of the air.

I understand that one problem is that the bones lose some calcium. Exercise helps but it does not stop this completely. This is a major area of study for manned spaceflight. It is a problem we will need to solve before we send people to Mars. It is a long trip.

Astronauts try not to lose anything, including tools because they float off into orbit. Later you might be going along in orbit and that tool could smash into the shuttle. Fortunately something like that would not stay in orbit forever. The shuttle is only a few hundred miles up. There is a very small amount of atmosphere up there, just enough to gradually slow space junk down so that it eventually falls into the atmosphere and burns up.

Empty, dark, hot on one side (where the sun shines) and cold on the other (in shadow).

To go to mars would take at least a year. You would need to take in your spaceship all the air, food and toilet paper for a year. Right now you would need such a big, heavy spaceship that you could not launch it. So people are finding ways to reduce the weight for instance you can use plants to help generate the oxygen you need to breathe. Also we worry about what will happen to people who spend so long in weightlessness. Their bones may become so soft that they will not be able to stand up on mars to walk around and explore.