05. Can spacewalkers get sick with "the bends"? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

Spacewalkers must wear pressurized spacesuits in order to work in space. These suits have pressures significantly lower than ambient cabin pressure of a spacecraft—only 4.3 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure—compared to 14.7 psi in the ISS, which is equivalent to sea level on Earth. This makes spacewalkers subject to decompression sickness, more commonly known as the "bends," a condition familiar to scuba divers who surface too rapidly. Decompression sickness results from nitrogen bubbles forming in the tissues or blood stream and moving to other areas of the body. Lowering the concentration of nitrogen in the blood by exercising and breathing pure oxygen prevents this problem.

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Answer provided by Russell Romanella

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

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