06. Is it easy to become dehydrated in space? Does one have to drink often? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

Yes, it is very easy to become dehydrated due to the various physiological effects of weightlessness and due to the effects of the unique environment of working in a spacesuit. In a spaceship with a contained and pressurized atmosphere, dehydration becomes less of an issue if crewmembers take in their proper water allowance each day. While in a spacesuit, however, an astronaut's body is subject to a great deal of heat build-up, which tends to accumulate the longer the suit is worn. To help prevent dehydration, spacesuits are equipped with liquid-cooling radiators that act very much like the radiators in an automobile engine. They circulate heat-absorbing coolant fluid around the astronaut's body in small tubes and then into a radiator in the backpack. The radiator is exposed to space and simply allows the heat to leave the coolant fluid and radiate away into space.

---

Answer provided by Joe Rhemann

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

Buy This Book Click here