How Do Astronauts Get Breathable Oxygen In Space (Aboard The ISS)?

Astronauts onboard the ISS get their breathable oxygen in two main ways - through systems onboard the ISS that generate breathable oxygen and through resupply missions that deliver breathable oxygen to the ISS.

There is plenty of oxygen on Earth; but things change drastically as you breach the ‘boundary’ of the sky and reach the blackness of space. Oxygen is hard to come by in space, that’s why space engineers figured out a way to provide sufficient quantities of oxygen to astronauts that head to space and stay up there for months on end. Aboard the ISS, there are two systems that provide breathable oxygen to astronauts - NASA’s ECLSS and Russia’s Elektron. These two are referred to as oxygen generators, as they provide breathable oxygen through electrolysis of water.

Check out this video for more details about ways through which astronauts get oxygen in space.

References

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20160014553.pdf https://www.me.psu.edu/cimbala/me433/Lectures/Activated_Carbon_or_Charcoal_Filters.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/g-281237_eclss_0.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/feature/eclss-put-to-the-test-for-commercial-crew-missions

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Photo Credits:

Shutterstock/Volodymyr Goinyk/illustration ID: 1583061805 Shutterstock/Vadim Sadovski/photo ID: 551379514 Shutterstock/Gorodenkoff/photo ID: 1042736407 Shutterstock/Dima Zel/photo ID: 1425668150 Shutterstock/NikoNomad/photo ID: 453720853 Shutterstock/3Dsculptor/illustration ID: 729066739 Shutterstock/3Dsculptor/illustration ID: 734071369 Shutterstock/Andrey Armyagov/photo ID: 311480090 Shutterstock/3Dsculptor/illustration ID: 525332023 Shutterstock/3Dsculptor/illustration ID: 1151457788 Shutterstock/Fer Gregory/illustration ID: 1449284897 Shutterstock/litabit/photo ID: 486573790 Shutterstock/Dima Zel/photo ID: 1425668150 Shutterstock/mycteria/photo ID: 232928557 Wikipedia/Electrolysis/ PEM electrolysis diagram/Davidlfritz/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PEM_Elektrolyse_5.gif Wikipedia/The National Transportation Safety Board/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_oxygen_generator_diagram.svg NASA images and videos Library: images.nasa.gov

Video Credits:

Pexels/Artem Beliaikin Pixabay/Coverr-Free-Footage Evanto Elements/Breath of Nature by Pressmaster Pixabay/Photoman61 Evanto Elements/ Woman Breathing Fresh Air in a Forest in Autumn by ADcour Pexels/Pixabay Pixabay/NASA-Imagery Evanto Elements/A View of the Earth and a Spaceship. ISS Is Orbiting the Earth by icetray Evanto Elements/Astronaut Looking Out of Spaceship Window by FrameStock Evanto Elements/Astronaut In Outer Space by cookelma Evanto Elements/Man Conducting Chemical Reaction by FrameStock Evanto Elements/Glass In a Chemical La ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_cOqxZqjFU