Oxygen Factory in Space: Oxygen Supply and Carbon Dioxide Processing on the International Space Station

Oxygen Factory in Space: Oxygen Supply and Carbon Dioxide Processing on the International Space StationWhere does the oxygen on the space station come from? It couldn't be transported from Earth, right? That would be incredibly expensive! The source of oxygen on the space station has always been a source of curiosity for netizens. After all, ensuring the astronauts' breathing in the space environment is paramount

Oxygen Factory in Space: Oxygen Supply and Carbon Dioxide Processing on the International Space Station

Where does the oxygen on the space station come from? It couldn't be transported from Earth, right? That would be incredibly expensive! The source of oxygen on the space station has always been a source of curiosity for netizens. After all, ensuring the astronauts' breathing in the space environment is paramount. But beyond oxygen, there is carbon dioxide to consider. How does the space station handle this carbon dioxide, and where does the oxygen come from?

The Hardships of Assembling the Space Station: The Birth of a Space Factory

The assembly of the International Space Station was a long and arduous task. It's like a real-life space factory, capable of performing various space missions and providing services to Earth.

In 1998, the International Space Station received its first shipment from the Russian space station "Mir," marking a significant milestone in its development. Subsequently, the space station received various equipment and supplies from several European countries, the United States, Canada, and others. Finally, around the year 2000, the station opened up to accept orders and provide services to external entities.

At this time, the International Space Station comprised approximately 3,000 different components, weighing around 1,900 tons. Over the following decade, the space station's size continued to expand, undergoing several modifications to become a complete system.

However, the space station's "power" came from the "regeneration" process it underwent. This "regeneration" process involved assembling the station on Earth and transporting it into space. The task of assembling the space station was formidable, taking 10 years, 43 astronaut spacewalks, and over 500 hours in total. Moreover, most of this time was spent in space. The 1,600 days spent in space, with its joys and sorrows, triumphs and failures, bitterness and sweetness, must have given the passengers of this spacecraft a perspective unlike anything on Earth. The assembly of the space station was a testament to human ingenuity, demanding attention to detail and an absolute lack of room for error. Every aspect had to be perfected by human hands.

How Are Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Handled on the Space Station?

The most crucial components of the space station are oxygen and carbon dioxide. Solving the problem of astronauts breathing in space begins with addressing the source of oxygen on the station.

Continuously transporting oxygen from Earth to the space station would be incredibly expensive. Clearly, this isn't a viable solution. The International Space Station generates its oxygen using a method called "electrolysis." While this method isn't complex in fact, individuals with research capabilities can create it with a few small components it produces a very small amount of oxygen. Therefore, relying solely on this method to meet the space station's oxygen needs is impossible. On one hand, the oxygen demand is very high, while on the other, the amount of oxygen generated by this method is minimal. This mismatch doesn't have a good solution, so we can consider the production of oxygen to be a process requiring Earth's assistance.

The International Space Station's oxygen supply depends on the following process:

1. Carbon Dioxide Collection: The space station has abundant carbon dioxide, with a usable volume reaching the level of thousands of tons.

2. Oxygen Extraction: The electrolysis method filters and extracts oxygen from carbon dioxide, producing fresh air for astronauts to breathe.

3. Oxygen Replenishment: The space station's oxygen needs are met by disassembling an oxygen tank to obtain fresh oxygen and refilling the tank. This ensures a constant oxygen supply.

4. Oxygen Cycling: As this process continues, the amount of oxygen obtained increases until it reaches a sufficient level for the astronauts. At this point, the space station can discard any excess oxygen.

Why Not Choose the Plant Route?

Many people may think that if the space station had enough plants, the oxygen produced by their photosynthesis could be supplied to the environment. However, this method isn't the best. First, the space station itself is already incredibly large, with very few empty rooms. Growing plants on the space station would be quite a challenge.

Besides the need for a plant-growing environment and soil meeting specific standards, the space station's environment itself is unsuitable for plant growth. Windows don't exist in space, preventing plants from undergoing photosynthesis and producing oxygen. Even if they could photosynthesize, the amount of oxygen produced would be extremely minimal. To meet the space station's oxygen needs using plants, an enormous number would be required. This would lead to another problem odors within the space station.

While the air itself may be fresh from an external perspective, the space station's interior would be filled with various smells, creating an unpleasant environment and affecting the astronauts' work efficiency. Additionally, plants need light for photosynthesis. Without light, they can't photosynthesize. This would necessitate a suitable location on the space station with enough light for plants to photosynthesize.

This would lead to an extravagant use of the space station's limited resources. Clearly, every item used on the space station is carefully considered to minimize waste. This particular expenditure would be imprudent. From the perspective discussed above, obtaining oxygen from plants is highly impractical. Therefore, it must be transported from Earth.

Conclusion

The space station is a technological marvel that helps Earth progress, but as a human endeavor to build in space from the ground up, it presents numerous challenges. From material selection to construction issues and ultimately, transportation into space, there are many hurdles to overcome. The joys and sorrows associated with this process can only be fully understood and experienced by astronauts themselves.

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