Are you interested in anything to do with space? Do you sometimes hear things, but you’re not sure if they are true?
An international crew of 7 people constantly live in space. They’re on the International Space Station, traveling at the speed of five miles per second.
There’s a lot of misinformation about space circulating in the space industry. Here are some truths about the most common space travel myths today.
You Have to Work Out Constantly in Space
We see astronauts working out quite a lot in space. That has given us the idea that you’ll pass out or die if you don’t work out. That’s not true. You can be the laziest person when you’re weightless in space. You don’t even have to hold up your head.
After going to space, you’ll eventually have to come back to earth. If you don’t work out, you’ll be like a jellyfish. That’s why astronauts work out for about two hours a day in space.
If You Travel at the Speed of Light, You Won’t Age
That’s not exactly true. Your aging will be different relative to the aging of people on earth who aren’t traveling at the speed of light. That’s relativity.
If you get going fast enough, your speed is proportional relative to the time passing. You’ll still age. But people on earth will age at a different rate. If you’re curious about space, click here for more.
There Is No Sound in Space
There is sound in space, but space has no atmosphere, which sound waves need in order to travel. If there were an explosion in space, the sound wouldn’t travel unless it were on a planet with some atmosphere, so you wouldn’t hear it.
The sun is a massive explosion which would be very loud. It’s constantly happening, but we don’t hear it because there is nothing to carry the sound to our ears.
We Can Travel at the Speed of Light
Some people think we can travel into deep space at the speed of light using warp speed. The concept of warp speed is an invention of science fiction. We don’t know how to travel at the speed of light.
It would take a massive amount of energy because the faster you go, the more energy you need. We have different types of rockets, but we don’t have one that can travel that fast yet.
Cryogenic Sleep
In the movies, people travel between solar systems by lowering their temperatures and going into a state of hibernation. We don’t know how to do that.
When you freeze water, it transforms into ice crystals. That would damage the structure of the human body in a similar way that frostbite can destroy your fingers or toes.
Space Is Limitless
Observable space is vast but not limitless. Closer to home, we’re quickly running out of room if you consider low earth orbit. The space industry has left a lot of debris behind, and it’s beginning to cause trouble for other astronauts.
Space Travel Myths Debunked
When you do some research, you will discover the truth behind some of the many space travel myths that exist today. You can be confident when you clearly understand how they developed.
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