When astronauts are placed in stressful situations, for example, electricity failure they need to be able to react in such a way to restore or repair the problem or else die. They need to be able to react under life and death situations in order to survive.
It was interesting to read about the breakaway effect where astronauts experience a feeling of euphoria/peace and not panic. This can be an extremely dangerous situation as it impairs their decision making skills and could cause them to not reenter the hatch in a safe amount of time. This effect is similar to a diver to goes below 100 feet then report a feeling of calmness and invulnerability. When a situation puts someone where they have decreased oxygen levels this can cause disorientation and affect decision making skills.
So yes space travel can blow one's mind in both physical and psychological ways. Many astronauts do not like to ask for help with the psychological concerns as they worry it may prevent them from being accepted for future flight explorations.
I also found that Chapter 3 was very interesting and hit the science nerve. I liked your title it was very creative and instantly caught my attention. It was great how you referred to and explained the breakaway effect. I never realized how dangerous euphoria could truly be. It was a good example to use the astronaut that had a hard time coming back into the hatch. Great job at tying it all together.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I like how you broke your blog off into multiple paragraphs it makes it much easier to read and I should start doing that with mine. Next, I also found this chapter intriguing. When I was reading about the breakaway effect all I could think of is if I was in that situation I don't think I would be experiencing the feeling of euphoria like they were talking about. I feel like I would be thinking “Crap, you're gonna die” and be panicked. I think that it must be hard for the astronauts because they have worked so hard their whole lives to get to this point and then when they have psychological concerns come up they dismiss it and don't want to be treated for it because then they may not be able to go out on future flight explorations like you said. Overall I think your blog was well written!
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