SPACE is often described as “the final frontier”, and despite leaps and bounds in technology, much of the extraterrestrial life is still alien to humans.
In the quest for space exploration, every detail – from astronaut gear to rockets – requires meticulous planning and design considering the harsh and unforgiving conditions of outer space.
Among the various marvels of engineering of interstellar travel, the space suit is a standout, allowing astronauts to defy the limits of human physiology by providing both life support and protection.
Is it true that the design of these suits was inspired by an animal known for its towering height and gentle demeanour – the giraffe?
Verdict:
TRUE
Among the many animals on Earth, the giraffe is one of the more alien-looking creatures. It makes a weird sort of sense, then, that they have contributed much to the advancement of space travel.
Giraffes, with their lofty stature, have unique cardiovascular adaptations to manage the drastic changes in blood pressure they experience whenever they raise or lower their head.
Without such adaptations, the simple act of bending to take a sip of water would have disastrous implications for a giraffe. This is because their hearts are over 40 times larger than a human’s and produce an appropriately gargantuan volume of blood to support their physique.
The laws of physics dictate that whenever a giraffe lowers its neck, all that blood would go rushing to its head, raising the pressure in its brain to dangerous levels (just imagine the feeling of hanging upside down for an extended period of time).
However, that is clearly not what is happening in reality, as giraffe brains are not spontaneously exploding whenever they stop for a drink.
Scientists have long been fascinated by this ability to seemingly regulate blood flow against gravity – a feature that turned out to have very significant applications for human space suits.
For context, human bodies are adapted to suit the 1 g environment found on Earth, but astronauts must deal with two extremes: launch and re-entry forces of up to 6 g, and zero-gravity (0 g) in space.
Sound familiar? That is because it is similar to the extremes experienced by giraffes whenever they raise and lower their heads.
To cope, giraffes developed specialised vessel structures in their necks to ensure that blood reaches their brains despite the force of gravity acting against this flow in their long necks. This includes a series of one-way valves that prevent backflow and maintain blood pressure at a safe level.
Space suit engineers took cues from this unique physiology of the giraffe, studying how their bodies prevent excessive blood flow to and from the brain and applying similar principles to the development of anti-gravity suits.
G-suits worn by astronauts during take-off and landing incorporate lower body pressure cuffs that can inflate and deflate to help manage circulation and stabilize blood pressure. This technology is critical for countering the physiological effects of rapid acceleration and deceleration in spaceflight.
While the overall design of a space suit is hardly reminiscent of a giraffe, astronauts have the sky-scraping mammal to thank for this particular life-saving feature.
Humans have launched instruments, pizza, dogs and chimpanzees into the vast cosmos. And, in a way, it seems we can say that we have sent giraffes to space as well.
References:
1. https://www.mentalfloss.com/
2. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/
