Hey there!
Welcome to Life Noggin.
Or is it?
It is!
Or is it?
Back when I first joined the Life Noggin universe, things were kinda… cramped.
It was basically just me and my friends in a big ol’ room.
When I told my animator I needed some more space, well, I got all this!
And this cool space station — kinda like the ISS in your universe.
It’s cool and all, but what if you were an astronaut on the ISS and something happened?
How could you survive if you were trapped up there?
Well, to help figure this out, I brought my friend William Osmen with me!
He’s an engineer...and he’s trapped with me.
WILLIAM: This was his idea by the way.
I wanted to do a video on cats in outer space, without spacesuits.
Anyways, To start, let’s assume that the coms are down and you can’t talk to anyone
back on Earth.
Nobody is coming to get you, and you can’t go back.
One of the first things that you’re going to need to worry about is power.
Thankfully, you’ve got the Sun.
The ISS actually gets its power from solar arrays.
Made up of thousands of solar cells, these arrays can efficiently convert solar energy
into electrical power, typically producing more power than the station needs at one time.
When these arrays are in sunlight, around 60 percent of their generated electricity
is used to charge the station's batteries, so that they can keep everything powered up
when the ISS is getting some shade.
BLOCKO: But if they got messed up — like say, it
got ripped or bent so that it couldn't get sunlight—, you might need to get out there
and repair them yourself.
Something like this actually happened a while back.
After some solar panels were ripped on the ISS, astronauts had to suit up and essentially
sew them back together.
Oh Wow, thanks Grandma Blocko!
She’s already on it!
Now, if you got that fixed, how long could you survive?
Well, it would probably depend a lot on how many people you had up there with you.
The more people, the more you’ll be consuming your resources.
The ISS typically has 3-6 people on board, with enough supplies to usually last at least
a couple of extra months between supply runs.
Adjust that to your crew size, and there you go.
WILLIAM: Not sure why you brought all your friends
then.
Because of the supplies, food would probably be the first to go.
According to NASA, an astronaut on the ISS uses about 0.83 kilograms of food per meal
per day, with about a seventh of that coming from packaging.
Cutting calories can make the food last longer, but eventually you’re going to run out.
For water, well, that’s where the Water Reclamation System, or WRS, comes in.
Basically, the WRS takes a bunch of “used” water sources — like sweat and urine —, and
purifies them so that they can be used again.
….am i supposed to drink this?
Is this real?
Does it taste like pee?
BLOCKO:
But it’s not just food and water that you’ll have to worry about.
You’re also going to have to worry about breathing.
Fortunately enough for you, the ISS has NASA’s Oxygen Generation System and the Russian Elektron
system to keep you supplied with oxygen.
These systems use water to make oxygen in a process called electrolysis, which splits
the water into hydrogen and oxygen using an electric current.
Together, with the WRS, these systems essentially create a loop of oxygen and water, that’s
certainly not perfect, but should last longer than your food supplies.
If this fails, however, you might need to resort to the backup Vika system.
Around the size of a spray can, Vikas create oxygen by igniting lithium perchlorate: a
solid, oxygen-rich compound.
Basically, it’s a big candle that gives off oxygen — about enough for a single crewmember
for one day.
In the end, surviving on the ISS would be all about conserving your resources as much
as possible.
And, it’s probably better if you didn’t have so many people with you.
Especially the ones that keep eating all the food!
We’re supposed to be rationing here!
WILLIAM: You can’t tell me what to do Blocko!
I’m an animation now.
BLOCKO: Thanks for watching this episode of Deblocked!
Where would you like Me to travel to next?
Any time period?
Any specific place?
Let me know down below!
Thanks to William Osmen for helping me with this episode.
WILLIAM: You’re welcome.
BLOCKO: He makes hilarious engineering videos over
on his channel.
What better way to reflect the brilliance of William's channel by making a completely
terrible, useless bike.
This is amazing! ugh!!
Subscribe and tell him he should grow out his beard more.
WILLIAM: What?
Hey!
BLOCKO: As always my name is Blocko, this has been
Life Noggin, don’t forget to keep on thinking!