Space Station Earth | CleanTechnica

September 22, 2018 by Andy Miles

---

The idea of ​​"Spaceship Earth" has been around for quite some time, but I prefer the idea of ​​"Space Station Earth." After all, the Earth does not have a propulsion system, but like a space station that could orbit a planet, it passively orbits the sun. Our space station concepts could be closer to those of the movie 2001, with its centripetal gravity equivalent and curved soils, but the only space station we have is the International Space Station (ISS). It's quite small, but has survived in space as a workplace for over 7,000 days, which is quite a success and continues.

Survival system – ISS

The ISS requires a sophisticated survival system that manages the onboard atmosphere and the recycling of water. Oxygen is created from wastewater and hydrogen is combined with CO2 to produce more water and carbon residues. Water vapor, dust and microbes are filtered from the atmosphere, where water vapor is collected as water and all the rest is collected as waste. Precise levels of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide are constantly monitored, as well as moisture and the presence of unwanted gases such as methane or ammonia, which must be eliminated. About 70% of the space station 's water is recycled, even the urine, where pure water is extracted and the mixture of water and salts remaining treated. A picture is worth 1,000 words. So here are some diagrams showing, much more clearly than what I can describe, the survival system on the ISS.

Puncture Repair Kit

Obviously, the survival system on the ISS is essential for the lives of astronauts on board. It is a confined space that can quickly become contaminated or rendered unfit for life. Great care is taken in the design, development and construction of all systems aboard the ISS, as many lives depend on their operation at all times. There has recently been a loss of pressure and air in the cabin. This was traced to an anchored Soyuz module. The detective work revealed that on Earth a technician had accidentally punched a hole in the fuselage and concealed his mistake by using glue. It had worked for a while, but the glue lozenge had degraded and had become detached and had been projected into space by the pressure of the cabin, such as a pastille. an air gun, causing a major emergency situation. All those who create, maintain and operate systems on the ISS are highly qualified, highly skilled and diligent agents. It was a very rare mistake, by one person, and will probably never happen again.

Untrained staff

Meanwhile, on the Earth Space Station, there are millions of untrained and carefree people, unaware of the complex balances that keep the support system of life, creating chaos and destruction on a daily basis. We obviously need an intensive training program to educate all personnel about safety protocols and to get an idea of ​​how the survival system works on the Earth space station. The problem is that some of the senior officers on board are as ignorant as everyone else and, in some cases, seem to be moving with an electric drill in their hands and a diabolical gleam in their eyes, wanting to destroy all their belongings. own manufacture. Perhaps they are in the pay of the Vogons, to clear the bridges of the Earth for their demolition, to facilitate this project of construction of intergalactic road for the hyperspace expressway (according to Douglas Adams, anyway).

We could do with a life support system manual, or some sort of "survival systems for dummies", starting with "do not drill holes in the fuselage". I can not do much, but I can handle some tips on best practices and things to avoid at all costs.

Space debris

The ISS has a relatively thin metal casing to separate everything within the hostile environment. It is in constant peril of all the space junk that revolves around the Earth. A nut, or a bolt, or a fallen key, that we see it motionless in space with the space station launched towards it, or the space station floating peacefully as the debris rush towards it, has no impact on the result of the impact, should it occur. People do not stop talking about brushcutting, but, just like junk in the ocean and stupidity in the atmosphere, people seem much more likely to talk than they are. ;to play. In 2014, the flight controllers had to raise the ISS altitude of half a mile in order to prevent a part of an old European rocket getting in the way. moves on its orbital path. The problem is so serious that the International Space Station has now installed a sensor to detect any unwanted incident. Not content to carelessly pollute the Earth, we even turn the space around our planet into a pile of garbage.

Heavy cover

The Earth Space Station has a much more sophisticated system. The Earth's protective atmosphere is more than 35 miles (56.5 kilometers) thick, but most of it is less than 16 kilometers from the surface. Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude. At sea level, the atmospheric pressure is about 14.7 pounds per square inch (1 kilogram per square centimeter). It's a huge pressure. If you imagine a 10-inch square, that's 100 square inches, and therefore less than 1470 pounds of air, which far exceeds 1/2 ton. On your whole body, you have about 20 tons of air leaning on you.

All this pressure is caused by gravity, which is another sophistication where the Earth's space station marks above the ISS. It's the centripetal force of gravity that prevents you from flying as you roll at 1000 mph and makes life on Earth much more convenient than on the ISS. It's the gravity that has captured and preserved our atmosphere and gravity that keeps the ISS from moving in a straight line, so that it will continue to orbit the Earth, rather than to sink in deep space. The ISS constantly falls to Earth under the influence of gravity, like anything else, but its trajectory in a straight line away from the Earth at the same pace as its fall, it retains its orbit.

Deeply Atmospheric

Theoretically, the ISS, about 250 miles from the Earth, moves in the Earth's atmosphere. Farther from the surface of the Earth, the gas becomes very rarefied and it is therefore difficult to detect the cessation of the atmosphere and the beginning of space. It probably extends as a very rarefied gas at 10,000 kilometers. When we say very rarefied, we mean that the molecules are about 100 kilometers from each other, hardly detectable as if they were different from an empty space.

The composition of the atmosphere is about 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% dioxide carbon and small amounts of other gases. The air also contains a variable amount of water vapor, averaging about 1% at sea level and 0.4% over the entire atmosphere.

Layers

The atmosphere is in a number of ranked layers. The only vital layer is the near-Earth troposphere, which extends for about 12 km, 7.5 miles, or 39,000 feet. The troposphere is where plants and animals constantly exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. It is here that we have our clouds and the weather, so also most of the water vapor and, of course, the pollution caused by humans. In reality, it is thicker at the equator than at the poles. This is due to the centrifugal force of the rotation of the Earth. Ocean waters and people are affected in the same way, and you will weigh a little less on the equator than you would on any of the poles. If it were not for gravitational attraction of the Earth, anything else that is on the poles would be thrown into space by centrifugal force, or to put it more precisely, instead to circulate at around 1000 mph. Do now, you would start traveling in a straight tangential line from the surface of the Earth. It would be because of the end of a force and not the presence of a force, so what we call "centrifugal force" is not really a force. The only real force is the centripetal force of gravity in this case, which forces you to follow a curved path on the face of the Earth when your natural inclination is to travel in a straight line (according to Newton's first motion law).

After the troposphere comes the stratosphere, which extends to about 55 km, or 34 miles. Here, the pressure is only one thousandth of the pressure at sea level and the air is very calm. It contains the ozone layer, a very important part of our survival system, which protects us from deadly ultraviolet radiation. Above, there is the mesosphere, the thermosphere and the exosphere, which brings us to 85 km, 1,000 km and 10,000 km respectively. In the thermosphere, the gas is so rarefied that the molecules can be separated by one kilometer. The ISS is orbiting the Thermosphere between 350 and 420 km altitude, between 220 and 260 miles.

Versatile protection

This air cover is a very versatile part of our life support system. It regulates temperature and gas exchange to keep the air breathable, carries water to keep the earth moist, and gives us drinking water and, finally, protects us from large and small meteorites which burn under the effect of gravity. Speeds Harmless dust often comes to the surface because it does not travel fast enough to burn. Anything up to about one inch in diameter will tend to burn completely because it is heated to 1600 ° C, which makes the meteor tracks bright. About 95% are burned this way. Anything larger than this will tend to break up into smaller parts that can sometimes reach the ground as meteorites. So, mainly we are protected. An artificial space station with a thin metal skin is, by comparison, like a tin can in a shooting lane.

Large objects, classified as asteroids, are not protected, but visits to these objects are rare. With these big objects, the pieces of rock falling from the sky are not even the biggest concern. What causes the most damage is the shock wave produced by the meteor that breaks in the Earth's atmosphere. For example, the Chelyabinsk meteor – an asteroid the size of a six-storey building that entered the atmosphere in February 2013 over Russia – broke away 24 kilometers above the ground and generated an explosion shock wave, injuring 1,600 people. These events are rare and, for the most part, our "shield" does its job all day, every day.

Solar wind

A bombing of objects is not the only thing we need protection. There is a violent "solar wind" that constantly emits from the Sun, which is a high-energy particle stream. Ordinary, it would break in our atmosphere and, after a while, she would literally empty it. This brings us to an extremely important element of our vital systems, the magnetosphere: it is the magnetic field around the Earth space station, which would come from the iron core at very high temperature in its center. The temperature in the center of the Earth is estimated to be about equal to that of the Sun's surface.

Magnetosphere structureA rendering of the structure of the magnetosphere by the artist: 1) Shock absorber. 2) Magnetosheath. 3) Magnetopause. 4) the magnetosphere. 5) North tail lobe. 6) Lobe of the southern tail. 7) Plasmasphere

Outside the Earth, the magnetic field is significantly compressed by the solar wind over a distance of about 65,000 kilometers. The shock of the Earth's bow is about 17 kilometers thick and is located about 90,000 kilometers from the Earth. This far exceeds 10,000 kilometers of the outside atmosphere, which distances the solar wind. On the night side of the Earth, the magnetic field extends into the magnetotail, which exceeds in length 6,300,000 kilometers (3,900,000 miles). The terrestrial magnetotail is the main source of polar auroras.

Balance of gases

Thus, the magnetosphere is the part of our life support system that protects the main support system of our atmosphere. We have not discussed in detail how this part of the life support system works. It is said that a person can survive 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, but only 3 minutes without air. The part of the air we need is this oxygen at 20% and we need it to stay at 20%. If we had too little oxygen, we would be out of breath. If we had too much carbon dioxide, we would feel drowsy and lethargic and eventually lose consciousness. The balance must be right. The balance is maintained by our symbiotic relationship with plants, where plants expire during the process of photosynthesis, in which they use sunlight to combine carbon dioxide with water to create molecules d & # 39; hydrocarbons. We breathe oxygen, oxidize the hydrocarbon molecules and exhale the carbon dioxide. The plants on earth are therefore part of our survival system. We get 50% of our oxygen from terrestrial plants and the other 50% from oceanic plants. On Earth we have giants of the forest, but in the ocean, the plants we depend on for our life are microscopic life forms, called phytoplankton. Phytoplankton exist on the surface of water, rich in carbon dioxide and nutrients. However, an excess of carbon dioxide makes the oceans more acidic, anthropogenic pollution such as micro-plastics poisons water and temperatures rise beyond the optimal range for phytoplankton to live. If we lose phytoplankton, we lose half of our oxygen supply. When that happens, then maybe those who think that their life depends on the amount of money they have in the bank will realize that we can not breathe money. It is therefore essential to protect the integrity of the oceans and protect all life within them.

In the UK, where I live, it was felt that we had to plant a forest the size of Yorkshire (one of the largest counties in northern England) to absorb enough carbon dioxide to meet our contractual obligations in Paris. Network Rail, the organization responsible for the maintenance of the rail network, has chosen to cut millions of healthy trees at the edge of the railway lines so as not to worry about their management. So the reality is that we have fewer trees than we need.

In other parts of the world, people are cutting huge areas of rainforest to create temporary palm oil plantations that we do not even need. Huge quantities of carbon dioxide are being absorbed – and oxygen is being created – from the world's tropical forests and the vast forests of the colder north, but all of these forests are threatened by human activity. If we lose all these forests, that would be most of the remaining 50% of oxygen production. It is therefore essential that all the world's forests must be protected and maintained so that they continue to fulfill their vital function for our survival system.

Some actions have hidden consequences. For example, the warming of the Atlantic Ocean has resulted in a 10% increase in rainfall in the Brazilian rainforest relative to normal. All our ecosystems are very sensitive and interconnected, and a substantial increase in precipitation could have serious but unpredictable consequences. We really have to learn to be very careful and careful in everything we do, and to show the greatest respect for our survival system on the Earth Space Station.

Greenhouse gas

Currently, we are so irresponsible and careless that it is highly unlikely that our survival system will survive our own foolish actions. Greenhouse gases are actually part of our survival system because they keep the average temperature of our planet at around 14 ° C. Without them, the Earth station would be very cold and inhospitable. Temperature control is a combination of the level of greenhouse gases, the level of solar activity and our precise orbit around the sun. Climatologists are able to chart the cycles of change in all these areas. They are able to predict the warming and cooling cycles. In the past, there have been very hot periods and periods of ice age, where it was very cold everywhere. At the present time, we should move to a cooling period, and yet the planet is warming up quickly. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, we have injected infinite amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

These greenhouse gases include:

1. Carbon dioxide through the burning of fossil fuels
2. Methane from the extraction and leakage of fossil fuels, as well as farm animals and the decomposition of waste
3. Nitrous oxides from exhaust gases from diesel engines, other combustion processes and soil bacteria fueled by artificial nitrogen fertilizers
4. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) refrigerants (we used chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), but they were eliminated as pollutants because they damaged the ozone layer)
5. Increased water vapor resulting from the warming we have already caused (this will make it warmer as it will warm up, in an endless loop)

Carefree people cost lives

This massive increase causes rapid temperature rises. Like any other life support system, the mechanism must be carefully balanced, but we are totally irresponsible and reckless. The warming we have caused causes other changes that contribute to further warming, creating a feedback loop that will become self-sustaining and possibly unstoppable. We are like little boys on the side of the hill, who have trouble rocking the rock to move him, but helpless to stop his path of destruction once he's on his way.

So we really have to be very careful about eliminating everything that absorbs carbon dioxide and the amount of carbon dioxide we put in the atmosphere because there is no thermostat on Earth. can control the temperature.

On the ISS, the systems are widely separated. There is some interconnection but not much. On Earth, all systems are highly interconnected. As the air heats up, it is able to hold more water vapor, so that temperature and water are interconnected. When the air is warmed, it goes up, but as the Earth rotates, the air rises begins to circulate in what is called a cyclone, like a whirlwind. There are all kinds of circulations and currents at different levels. The winds mix the air, which keeps it fresh and breathable and carries the water vapor. The warm air and low over the oceans picks up a lot of water, and then when it gets up and cools or meets cold air, some of this water vapor starts to fall when the rain falls. All of our land water depends on the constant circulation of the winds bringing rain. But excessive warming makes the rains stronger and the winds stronger, and makes the dry periods longer and warmer, so that the weather becomes more extreme. Deflate the temperature spoils the wind and rain and everything.

Disturbance of agriculture

Such a climate has an impact on another important part of our survival system, namely agriculture. The Earth Space Station has no supply vessels like the ISS. Our current agriculture depends on our current climate, where it rains at times, but is dry at others, and where the amount of rain is just for the crops we grow. Too much rain can cause root rot in the fields. Heavy rains at the wrong time can destroy grain crops, making them difficult to harvest. Moist grain can not be stored and must be dried at great expense. Agriculture is invisible to many modern people. Many children think that food comes from the supermarket and must be trained to understand how it is produced. Many adults take for granted the shelves of supermarkets. One of the most likely impacts of climate change to have a significant effect in the beginning will not be the rise of the seas, or deaths due to heat stroke, but a serious disruption of agriculture. When the supermarket shelves are empty, think about how long it will take civilization to break down.

Despite all these terrible consequences of our actions and the interconnected nature of all elements of survival systems on the Earth Space Station, its inhabitants continue to destroy and disrupt these systems. The old adage "saw the branch on which we are sitting" could never be more applicable.

Ten survival rules for all Space Station personnel

Here is a list of things to add to "do not drill holes in the fuselage" to ensure your survival on the Earth Space Station:

1. Do not burn or burn fossil fuels, including coal, gas, oil and refined petroleum fuels (in fact, avoid burning anything that produces pollution).
2. Do not buy, produce or have anything that can not be recycled easily and make sure all the waste you produce is fully recycled.
3. Do not buy, produce or cause to produce a "product" that can not be fully processed and removed from the final product of the wastewater purification system.
4. Do not introduce chemicals, plastics, greases, oils or other inappropriate items into the sanitation system. All that has been introduced must be properly and completely treated and only pure water is returned to the main reservoir, ie the ocean. For the avoidance of doubt, "chemicals" include all kinds of products on supermarket shelves to clean yourself and your home.
5. Do not buy, use or cause the use of harmful chemicals and artificial fertilizers in your garden or farm fields. These kill the pollinators and make the soil infertile. Use only methods of organic farming and gardening.
6. Take full responsibility for everything you acquire, including any packaging, to ensure that it is disposed of responsibly at the end of its life.
7. Do not use more energy than necessary. In total, we must not use more than the amount that renewable energy sources can provide. Fortunately, it increases.
8. Do not use more water than necessary. Water is becoming scarce – do not waste it.
9. Do not eat beef or dairy because cattle produce 100 billion liters of methane a day. Livestock also uses valuable water resources, it is the most inefficient way to produce food and produces mountains and lakes of waste.
10. Plant wildflower trees and meadows where there is room for them and do not destroy forests and do not buy products resulting from their destruction, for example palm oil.

---

Support the work of CleanTechnica by becoming a Member, Support, or Ambassador.
Where you can buy a t-shirt, a mug, a baby outfit, a bag or a hoodie or make a Single donation on PayPal.

---

---

Keywords: air, air quality, atmosphere, climate change, international space station, ISS, lifestyle, planet earth, rainfall, space, space station Earth, sustainability, water