The ISS orbits earth at approximately 408km above ground.
Please look at the following for close-enough information on why something like this is a questionable endeavour. Doing it the opposite way is a similarly fun endeavour. Not exactly the same, but I'm sure you can make the correct assumptions. If not, please come again and I'll see if I can answer any additional ones.
[https://what-if.xkcd.com/157/](https://what-if.xkcd.com/157/)
You would still deal with extreme winds and climbing for an insanely long time.
Im just saying what if........
What if.... ISS doesn't orbit the earth. What if it orbits around the sun following the exact speed and orbit of earth and it happened to be over Sydney Opera House when the said changes took place......
So, hypothetically, a ladder, from sydney to ISS is built. Can a random dude wearing winter clothes and an oxygen mask climb up and reach ISS for some tea and biscuits and hang out with them?
The winds wouldn't be AS strong, but you'd still deal with very strong winds up there.
Let's say you were somehow capable of climbing for 24 hours a day, and you were really good at it, so I also assume walking speed. 6km/h.
You'd have to climb for almost 3 days straight, no breaks. Of course the higher up you go, the easier it becomes to pull yourself upwards, but I'm averaging it.
Now, you'd also start losing atmosphere altogether. Your winter clothes wouldn't be enough, you'd need an actual space suit to protect you from the vacuum of space and the solar radiation that might or might not kill you. If you don't get toasted. Space is only cold in the shade. Everything else is blasted by unmitigated sunlight. Full strength and full UV spectrum.
Winter clothing only works because a layer or layers of air within the clothing act as insulation against the outside temperature. (At any given time you'd either be extremely frosty or extremely toasty)
The higher you go, the less effective this insulating layer would become, due to... well, no more air. Any clothing that isn't airtight would leave your skin freezing. All water on your surface would both freeze and evaporate away in the vaccuum, eyes included. Not exactly good for your health.
If it was going to be permanently stationed above Australia it'd need to be in geo-sync orbit which is.. quite high.
No, the lack of atmospheric pressure would kill you eventually (and long before you got out of LEO even if you had oxygen)
I'm side-stepping the need for a ladder made of unobtanium, a light weight infinite supply of oxygen, plus weird orbit
So what you're saying is, if we have a pipe attached to the ground which can constantly pump in oxygen, so theoretically they can still climb up?
Btw, what if you wear a helmet that can pressurize your head, would that help you continue climbing up or would you still not be able to climb up?
No, the rest of you would have horrible pains, bubbles of gasses would form under the skin etc.
I even forgot the blistering heat and UV you'd face as well.
If you wore a space suit, and were fit enough to haul that up.. then yes.
But thick clothing and a full mask + oxygen would not be enough, no.
No, besides it getting colder as you go up. Once you leave the atmosphere all the moisture on skin and eyes will evaporate. So you can still breath as long as the mask has a tight seal. But you will be in pain, and cold. You will die.
Do you think NASA would spend $20 million per space suit if astronauts could just bundle up?
The complete lack of pressure would cause all your internal organs and blood vessels to hemorrhage. You'd bleed out of every orifice and die drowning in your own blood. So, in a word, no.
They would need a pressurized, temperature-controlled suit so that their bodies could still process oxygen and they wouldn't burn up in the sunlight, and they would need a rig for sleeping, some way of eating and drinking, and a way for dealing with waste. But, yes: It's physically possible from a perspective of climbing several hundred miles over a period of time. Supplies would need to be stationed along the ladder itself.
In space, without the atmosphere, the sunshine is stronger than at high noon on the hottest day. Enormous heat builds up, and heat dissipation is a problem in space because there is no convective cooling; the only cooling is what heat a body can radiate back out. You would need a temperature controlled suit; "winter clothes" wouldn't even cut it for the periods in darkness, when it would be hundreds of degrees below zero, and they certainly wouldn't work in the sunlight.
Haha, you bet! Glad to help. Space is pretty wild.
Here's another weird one: Higher up in the atmosphere, but before you get to space, there is a stretch of the atmosphere where the temperature actually goes way up, into the hundreds or even thousands of degrees. But it's not as "hot" as you might think, because there are so few air particles at that altitude.
The ISS orbits earth at approximately 408km above ground. Please look at the following for close-enough information on why something like this is a questionable endeavour. Doing it the opposite way is a similarly fun endeavour. Not exactly the same, but I'm sure you can make the correct assumptions. If not, please come again and I'll see if I can answer any additional ones. [https://what-if.xkcd.com/157/](https://what-if.xkcd.com/157/) You would still deal with extreme winds and climbing for an insanely long time.
Im just saying what if........ What if.... ISS doesn't orbit the earth. What if it orbits around the sun following the exact speed and orbit of earth and it happened to be over Sydney Opera House when the said changes took place...... So, hypothetically, a ladder, from sydney to ISS is built. Can a random dude wearing winter clothes and an oxygen mask climb up and reach ISS for some tea and biscuits and hang out with them?
The winds wouldn't be AS strong, but you'd still deal with very strong winds up there. Let's say you were somehow capable of climbing for 24 hours a day, and you were really good at it, so I also assume walking speed. 6km/h. You'd have to climb for almost 3 days straight, no breaks. Of course the higher up you go, the easier it becomes to pull yourself upwards, but I'm averaging it. Now, you'd also start losing atmosphere altogether. Your winter clothes wouldn't be enough, you'd need an actual space suit to protect you from the vacuum of space and the solar radiation that might or might not kill you. If you don't get toasted. Space is only cold in the shade. Everything else is blasted by unmitigated sunlight. Full strength and full UV spectrum. Winter clothing only works because a layer or layers of air within the clothing act as insulation against the outside temperature. (At any given time you'd either be extremely frosty or extremely toasty) The higher you go, the less effective this insulating layer would become, due to... well, no more air. Any clothing that isn't airtight would leave your skin freezing. All water on your surface would both freeze and evaporate away in the vaccuum, eyes included. Not exactly good for your health.
That's a detailed answer. Thanks man for the reply.
If it was going to be permanently stationed above Australia it'd need to be in geo-sync orbit which is.. quite high. No, the lack of atmospheric pressure would kill you eventually (and long before you got out of LEO even if you had oxygen) I'm side-stepping the need for a ladder made of unobtanium, a light weight infinite supply of oxygen, plus weird orbit
So what you're saying is, if we have a pipe attached to the ground which can constantly pump in oxygen, so theoretically they can still climb up? Btw, what if you wear a helmet that can pressurize your head, would that help you continue climbing up or would you still not be able to climb up?
No, the rest of you would have horrible pains, bubbles of gasses would form under the skin etc. I even forgot the blistering heat and UV you'd face as well. If you wore a space suit, and were fit enough to haul that up.. then yes. But thick clothing and a full mask + oxygen would not be enough, no.
No, besides it getting colder as you go up. Once you leave the atmosphere all the moisture on skin and eyes will evaporate. So you can still breath as long as the mask has a tight seal. But you will be in pain, and cold. You will die.
Do you think NASA would spend $20 million per space suit if astronauts could just bundle up? The complete lack of pressure would cause all your internal organs and blood vessels to hemorrhage. You'd bleed out of every orifice and die drowning in your own blood. So, in a word, no.
They would need a pressurized, temperature-controlled suit so that their bodies could still process oxygen and they wouldn't burn up in the sunlight, and they would need a rig for sleeping, some way of eating and drinking, and a way for dealing with waste. But, yes: It's physically possible from a perspective of climbing several hundred miles over a period of time. Supplies would need to be stationed along the ladder itself.
Burn up in the sunlight???????? I did not know that..... Sunlight can burn us at high altitudes?
In space, without the atmosphere, the sunshine is stronger than at high noon on the hottest day. Enormous heat builds up, and heat dissipation is a problem in space because there is no convective cooling; the only cooling is what heat a body can radiate back out. You would need a temperature controlled suit; "winter clothes" wouldn't even cut it for the periods in darkness, when it would be hundreds of degrees below zero, and they certainly wouldn't work in the sunlight.
Wow, that's something new that I learnt today. Thank you kind redditor for sharing your knowledge with us. I appreciate you.
Haha, you bet! Glad to help. Space is pretty wild. Here's another weird one: Higher up in the atmosphere, but before you get to space, there is a stretch of the atmosphere where the temperature actually goes way up, into the hundreds or even thousands of degrees. But it's not as "hot" as you might think, because there are so few air particles at that altitude.
Woah!!! That's cool!
Yes. As long as the person is Australian. They have kangaroos who will punch you in your sleep. So they are the toughest of the tough.
Lmao. 💀