At what point can an astronaut take off their helmet and why do they need to wear one for take off? (Asked by an actual 5 year old)
In: Physics
Inside the capsule, they normally don’t need the helmet at all. They would have been OK even if they didn’t wear it. But if something goes wrong, the capsule could lose air, and then they would need it. Because they cannot put it on fast enough if that happens, they wear it just in case.
Just like you wear a seat belt on a plane during take off and landing and if there’s turbulence, but you can open it when at cruise altitude in calm air. Something could still happen (which is why it’s better to wear the seat belt all the time in a plane), but the risk is so much lower that it’s also OK to take it off.
They take off the helmet because its much harder to work with the helmet than without.
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