Zardnaar
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How many do you want?
The Very-Many-Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread XL
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How many do you want?
Astronauts train underwater for a variety of reasons. Part of it is what was said upthread - how to handle an alien environment. Part of it is to simulate weightlessness while carrying out complex tasks. And part of it is both - carrying out critical tasks which, if you don't do them correctly, on time, could result in your death because of the non-oxygen environment outside your spacesuit.
There's a TV series on BBC Earth, in which Chris Hadfield (Canadian astronaut who commanded the International Space Station for awhile, several years ago) and a couple of others are running a group of aspiring astronauts through a series of tests to see which of them would qualify to go on to the real selection process.
It's a real eye-opener, to see what kinds of physical, mental, and psychological tests these candidates are put through and how they're simultaneously assessed on leadership skills while also being assessed on their ability to be a team player.
Any candidate who fails to measure up in some aspect can be turfed at any time, and it's sometimes a very unexpected reason why they're found unsuitable. Chris Hadfield states numerous times that part of his criteria for choosing who gets asked to leave and who gets to stay is "who would I want to go to space with and have to depend on in an emergency, and who wouldn't be a detriment to how everyone gets along". He acknowledges that the latter didn't used to be as important as it is now, since the shuttle missions weren't long enough for someone to seriously annoy the others badly enough to be a danger to the mission. But since the astronauts they're training now have the potential to be picked for training for a Mars mission, they have to pay more attention to the psychological makeup of the candidates and how they interact with each other.
Not sure if my hospital experience will be the same as non-hospital experiences, but the word I would use is "unpleasant."
But it's critical, and once things are fixed up (and you make whatever dietary changes might be needed), it's night and day between how you feel now and how you'll feel later.
Or so it was for me. I'm not perfect by any means, but I no longer have 12-hour bouts of extreme pain, and I can keep my food down.
Synobun
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Unpleasant works. I guess.
Doctor threw around the loaded c-word and has requested an emergency referral to a gastroenterologist.
But that will probably be weeks out anyways. It's Friday afternoon, COVID has destroyed specialists and their clinics, and we're full force into the second wave now.
Still. Not a fan of the implication.
shadowplay
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At first I guessed the wrong c-word and was a little concerned with the medical care you're receiving.
aimeeandbeatles
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I had a checkup with my eye surgeon today. It's not the same kind of exam as you'd get with an optometrist. They do periodic checks to see if the cataracts have come back, and so far I'm fine. He said "no significant problems", so that's a relief.
Now all I need to do is figure out an eye appointment and new glasses before winter comes. It's been nearly 3 years since I could last see everything normally without having to use magnifying devices.
hobbsyoyo
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I hope everything is fine.
You were right though, simulating weightlessness through buoyancy is the major reason for the underwater training.That's good to know. I always assumed that it was something to do with buoyancy and compensation for the weight of the space suit. I learned something today.
This can't be good, sorry to hear
.C. Difficile??????
In that case he'd be pooping like a fountain. For an emergency there you are normally already in hospital.
Severe IBD, or well, that c-word, come to my mind.
Synobun
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@amadeus: How prevalent is Greaser/American 50s retro culture in Japan? I saw references to it in Yakuza and have been really enjoying a song lately which features it in its music video. Is it something you can expect to see regularly, or is it more rare?
amadeus
Bishop of Bio-Dome
Never seen it, though I’ve heard there’s a small club in Tokyo. I will say I’ve never lived in Tokyo, and I doubt I’d ever care to.
aimeeandbeatles
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If somebody jumps in front of another person to protect them from getting shot, is it possible for the bullet to just go through them and hit the protectee anyways?
It must have been in a popular US movie before 1970.
Yes. But it depends what gun is used and where the first person was hit and the range that the gun was fired from. A "through and through" gunshot can happen if the impact site on the first person is narrow, like an arm, or if the gun is more powerful, like a rifle shot at short range, or a magnum handgun. There is a very big difference in the power of various guns. And other factors matter, such as the range of the shot, whether the bullet strikes bone as it hits the first body, or other factors. Larger and heavier bullets have greater penetrating ability. Higher velocity bullets do also. In general, a rifle round has a higher velocity than a pistol round. But some pistol rounds are extremely powerful as well, and travel at higher speeds than others.
I think @Bugfatty300 has more indepth knowledge of guns that anyone else who currently posts here. And could maybe say more.
Bugfatty300
Buddha Squirrel
Not much else to say really without going into esoteric and gory details on which I'm a little more squeamish these days. In general modern expanding handgun bullets are designed to stay inside the target for safety reasons. But cheaper less sophisticated "ball" handgun bullets tend to over-penetrate and can hit people behind the target. But typical rifle bullets can go through a person, into the next person, into a 3rd, into a 4th or more. But they can be deflected away if they hit bone at a shallow angle. Whereas high-end velocity ammunition found in modern military rifles can have poorer penetration because the higher speed makes the bullet more likely to fragment or deflect on impact.
Short answer to Aimee's question is: Yes.
All of the above but mass in particular is paramount for obvious physics reasons.
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