08. If there are hotels in space, how will the hotels function for oxygen? Will we have to wear air helmets inside the hotels? Or will we be able to breathe like we do on Earth? What will keep the oxygen inside the hotel? (A K2S Question)

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Oxygen will have to be brought to space in tanks. The oxygen tanks would be used to inflate the hotel and establish the environment. The oxygen in the hotel would have to be continually filtered and moisture and carbon dioxide (CO2) would have to be scrubbed out of the system. Our space modules are pressurized with an atmosphere similar to that on Earth, made-up of a ratio of oxygen and nitrogen (1:4) for breathing. This is what we call a shirt-sleeve environment, so there will be no need for air helmets or spacesuits when you are inside, unless there is an emergency. Any space modules we build must be air-tight, so breathable air will not leak out to space. With inflatable modules, there are multiple layers of air bladders built to keep the air inside the module, while a restraint layer gives structural support to the pressurized module.

Answer provided by Robert T. Bigelow


Image:K2S logosmall.jpg Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer


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