• Question: What would you have to do to survive if a hole was made in the spacecraft and all oxygen was lost? How is oxygen kept in the space craft

    Asked by Tim Peake Fanboy to Col Op, Elie, Floris, Jenn, RocketRich on 11 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Richard Moss

      Richard Moss answered on 11 Mar 2016:


      Such an event is called and emergency and the crew is trained for exactly this type of event.
      If it is a large leak, the crew has breathing masks, like a fireman on Earth. So they would always be able to move into their escape vehicle and return to Earth.
      If it is not such a bad leak, they can isolate the leaking module by closing doors (hatches). This is similar to a submarine which has water coming in!
      And finally, there is a leak repair kit. If the crew can find the hole, they have special material to block the hole and stop the leak.
      Fresh oxygen is always available from storage tanks.

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