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
They don’t need the helmet at all. You could fly in the Dragon craft in your underwear. Or less
The helmet is worn for two reasons. One is that in the case of a failure, the astronauts are likely to be jostled around in the craft, possibly banging their heads. You don’t want them to be stunned, because you may need them to be able to make fast, correct decisions to save themselves. So the physical protection of a helmet is important.
The second is a failure of craft could let all the air out. The helmet is sealed and fed with pressurised air, or even oxygen, to keep them alive if that happens.
Once the dragon craft is released, there is no force out there that could jostle the craft, or that could break anything and let the air out quickly. So the risk is low, and so they take off both the helmets, and their flight suits.
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