Difference between revisions of "Atmosphere"

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Revision as of 07:24, 20 July 2007

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There are several different types of atmospheres to consider.

Lunar atmosphere[1] Earth's atmosphere[2] Atmospheric pressure on Earth[3]

The most important for Lunar development is the pressure inside your space suit or habitat. Here is a listing of the relative pressures of other environments and the percentage oxygen in each.

Location Sea Level Oxygen Pressure
Earth (21%) 101.3 kPa
Mercury Program (100%) 34.5 kPa
Apollo Program (100%) 34.5 kPa
Skylab (70%) 34.5kPa
Space Shuttle (28.5%) 70.0 kPa
Cabin Pressurization [4]

Under most circumstances, if you don't get enough oxygen pressure you will get altitude sickness[5]

In the extreme case of a severe leak in space, you have to consider what the Death Zone does to climbers on Everest [6].

Most desirable for long term habitats in space is somewhere around 40kPa total with about 60% oxygen. In the event of an sudden depressurization this ratio means you do not have a hard transition to switch to your backup breathing systems. The rest is Nitrogen, water vapor and trace amounts of CO2 which can be isolated quite easily.