Astronauts Attach Mannequin to Outside of ISS

lhouk281 writes "According to Space.Com, astronauts have attached a mannequin to the outside of the International Space Station to study the effects of radiation on the human body. The mannequin contains actual bone surrounded by simulated organs and synthetic skin, with sensors studded throughout." There's another story that has detail on how the spacewalk went: a suit malfunction caused the spacewalk to end prematurely.

Comments

Dummy discovers external radiation effects

[gringer]

While scientists have used Phantom-like dummies in the past aboard the space shuttle and inside the ISS, the radiation hazards of open space on sensitive body organs is still unclear.[emphasis added]

I'm just wondering how they would make claims from this - "See, the radiation at 2.5cm below the middle of the first left rib is X, therefore it will cause a mild nausea".

Sure, artificial organs would give a slightly better idea of the radiation penetration, but why would such knowledge be useful?

Re:Dummy discovers external radiation effects

[betelgeuse-4]

I would have thought radiation would be the last of your worries if you found yourself in open space. The low pressure and lack of oxygen would be a bigger problem.

Re:Why use a mannequin?

[Ronald Dumsfeld]

Why not use an organ donor? Or one of those people who want to have their ashes put into space? I'd do it, if I were dead, that is... better than being wormfood.

Well, if they used a human body the only data they'd get would be when they got it back and cut it up. That would only let them see how much damage the radiation had done.

Their mannequin is stuffed full of sensors that will record the radiation levels a body would be exposed to. These circumstances can be reproduced repeatedly in the lab with real bodies or organs.

Re:it'll be...

[randyest]

The dummy is strapped to the space station; whatever space debris does to the dummy, it'll do to the station itself. Let's hope it does nothing, as in no space debris hits the space station. Mmkay? ;)

Re:Hmm...

[Tango42]

Sweat wouldn't cool you down any more than it does in an atmosphere, in fact, it would cool you down less. Liquids boil in a vacumn because of the low pressure, temperature has nothing to do with it. Sweat cools you down because the water uses heat from your body to evaporate, as it doesn't need heat to evaporate in space, it wouldn't cool you down.

radiation effects are well documented

[kippy]

There's nothing special about radiation in space. It can and has been reproduced here and there had been extensive research done on it. This looks to me like another science fair type experiment on the ISS. It's like when I didn't water a plant in 4th grade, recorded that it died and called it a project.