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February 1964 Radio-Electronics
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics.
See articles from Radio-Electronics,
published 1930-1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.
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In April of 1961, Yuri
Gagarin was the first human being to "slip the surly bonds of Earth*," and venture
into space, to be followed the next month by Alan Shepard. Just as those flights
relied upon data gained from launching monkeys into space, future manned missions
depended on a rapid ramp-up on methods and machinery needed to extend duration times
and safety. Hugo Gernsback's 1964 Radio-Electronics editorial, "To Remain
Alive in Space Is Difficult," underscores the extreme challenges humans face in
the vacuum of space. Earth's atmosphere provides vital protection, but in space,
astronauts must contend with lethal radiation, temperature extremes, and the constant
heat output of their own bodies. A punctured suit means rapid death as internal
pressure causes the body to swell like a balloon. Gernsback highlights the overlooked
hazard of invisibility in space's pitch-black void - astronauts in shadow vanish
entirely, complicating rescue efforts. He proposes solutions: pulsating helmet lights,
solar-powered batteries, and luminous suit markers for visibility, alongside directional
radios. Gernsback's prescient warnings emphasize that survival demands radical adaptations
to an environment utterly alien to Earth’s comforts. *High
Flight
Space Handicaps ... To Remain Alive in Space Is Difficult
...
 By Hugo Gernsback
Humans, who all their lives have lived in the protective blanket of the earth's
atmosphere, find it difficult to dissociate themselves from it entirely; that is,
to live in a perfect vacuum.
An entirely new environment, as well as new physical laws, which will always
be full of surprises for man, exist in space or on the moon.
Once he leaves his comfortable, pressurized space cabin and ventures out into
the harsh vacuum of space in his clumsy space suit, he must learn all over again
how to live.
In this article we do not wish to go into too great detail about the weightlessness
and dangerous, often deadly, radiation from the sun, such as ultraviolet, infrared,
X-rays and others not too well understood as yet. (There are still other, nonsolar
forms of radiation, such as cosmic rays and neutrons, all more or less deadly if
humans are not insulated against them or are exposed to them too long.)
On the moon, the direct heat from the sun can reach a temperature higher than
200°F and a low during the lunar night of -250°F! On top of all this, a man in a
pace suit gives out as much heat as does a 150-watt lamp and it is continuous! This
calls for portable air conditioning if one is to survive.
However, even if there is no air in space or on the moon, a man in a space suit
need not necessarily broil or freeze to death. His white space suit will, first
of all, reflect a large percent of the solar radiation. He can simply turn his back
to the sun periodically. This then heats his freezing back and cools his front.
Remember, too, that the inside of the space suit must contain a layer of pressurized
air without which a human cannot live. Indeed, if an accidental puncture of the
pressurized space suit occurs and if that puncture is not closed immediately, the
man must perish within minutes in the lowered air pressure. He will literally blow
up, because his body interior air puffs up his body like a balloon. A similar phenomenon
occurs when we bring a deep-sea fish to the surface. Robbed of the tons of ocean
pressure, the fish dies quickly from internal organ injuries.
We shall now speak of another hazard, too often forgotten: the invisibility of
man in space. Space is practically dead black. The sun shines harshly in an inky-black
sky. Starlight does not appreciably change that sky. Without air to diffuse the
light rays, any object not directly in the sun becomes invisible.
Thus men walking in single file cannot see the men ahead. They would have to
walk abreast. A man entering into the shadow of a large rock or cave becomes totally
invisible from all sides - he just seems to disappear. The effect will be the same
when spacemen must work outside a space ship to make repairs. If a man is in the
shadow of the ship, as he often must be, his co-workers cannot see him. Two-way
radios do not always help to find the missing man quickly, particularly if he has
floated some distance and his companions are behind him. Remember, he is now invisible
and today's two-way radios are not too directional.
This calls for (1) illuminated spacemen, and (2) highly directional two-way radios
usually built into the space suit.
Both these points have been neglected so far. In the matter of illumination,
a high-intensity pulsing light should be affixed to the top of the spaceman's helmet
as well as to his back. It would be operated by a simple lightweight electronic
pulser and a few batteries. To keep them recharged one could attach solar cells
to the front and back of the spaceman. In the vacuum of space, solar cells receive
more radiation; there may be an increase of up to 20% in output. These can then
be used instead of batteries for constant electrical energy output. As one moves
away from the sun in interplanetary space, the solar cells are no longer efficient.
Thus, near the planet Neptune the output of a solar cell is less than one tenth
of one percent of that on the earth.
The solar cells could furnish electricity directly as long as the spaceman is
in the sun. But when he is in shadow, he will have to rely on the batteries for
power.
As a safety standby in case of flasher failure, the spaceman should be provided
front and back with high-efficiency luminous markers as well.
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