Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2018 October 17

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October 17

Could/would some Olympic events break spacesuits?

If the athletes that would win in vacuum if they could give max effort tried max effort in the actual spacewalk and moonwalk suits (unaltered to increase flexibility or pressure vessel failure resistance (possibly might need some redesign for unastronaut-like athlete shapes)). What about other major sports like cricket, rugby or sumo? All with Earth gravity. Of course some sports might be stupid, pointless or impossible in vacuum, maybe an Olympic badminton server would always win or the extra padding would make punches toothless to pro boxers or.. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 15:27, 17 October 2018 (UTC)

Fencing. DroneB (talk) 19:39, 17 October 2018 (UTC)

They can take small micrometeorites but not blunt, bendy swords? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 01:49, 18 October 2018 (UTC)

Alan Shephard had enough trouble just trying to hit a golf ball on the moon. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:56, 18 October 2018 (UTC)

Yes every, even Synchronised swimming. These suites are very fragile and not build for long endurance and max forces. The Atmospheric diving suits would be better suited for enduring safety but a doubtful choice for sport. Also each Astronaut needs his Suite as backup in case the vessel gets a leak and they do not take a spare one on the journey. --Kharon (talk) 15:13, 18 October 2018 (UTC)

Archery might be okay, or smallbore rifle shooting. Alansplodge (talk) 14:39, 21 October 2018 (UTC)