• Question: Why in space is there not a lot of oxygen and if we didn't wear a helmet why would we die?

    Asked by 972mcrk42 to Aaron, Ananthi, Ashley, Christopher, Emma on 15 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Aaron Brown

      Aaron Brown answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      I’m really not that sure as I don’t know much about Space, sorry 🙁 I think it’s something to do with the oxygen molecules being spread out rather than being focused on one place. I think the Earth’s atmosphere traps oxygen to sustain life…. (but this is a guess).

      Taking your helmet off in space wouldn’t be a good idea as you wouldn’t be able to breath because of the lack of oxygen.

    • Photo: Emma Stevenson

      Emma Stevenson answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      I really don’t know either. Sorry 😞

    • Photo: Ananthi Ramachandran

      Ananthi Ramachandran answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      Well you definitely need the helmet which is used to feed you the air that you’re used to on earth to be able to survive in space. There is actually quite a bit of oxygen in space but the difference is it’s not breathable air, the oxygen concentration on earth is 21% and that’s caused by living things e.g. trees photosynthesising and releasing oxygen. Another reason space has less breathable air is there is less gravity, earth has gravity that draws the oxygen down and keeps it in! That is a very basic explanation from a microbiologist who doesn’t know much about space 🙂

    • Photo: Christopher Richardson

      Christopher Richardson answered on 16 Nov 2017:

      There isn’t a lot of oxygen in space because there isn’t anything alive in space that makes the oxygen (like plants and trees on earth) and if there was because space is so big and there isn’t an atmosphere to keep it together it would just float off into space. So yes we would definitely die because you would be able to breath! How long can you hold your breath for? That’s how long you would survive!

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