Learn why spacesuits are white, and how to avoid drama by breaking the Karpman Drama Triangle. Then, test your podcast knowledge with this month’s Curiosity Challenge trivia game.
Learn why spacesuits are white, and how to avoid drama by breaking the Karpman Drama Triangle. Then, test your podcast knowledge with this month’s Curiosity Challenge trivia game.
Why are spacesuits white? By Cameron Duke
To Avoid Drama, You Need to Break the Karpman Drama Triangle by Mae Rice
Episodes referenced in Curiosity Challenge Trivia with Collin:
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Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-are-spacesuits-white
ASHLEY HAMER: Hi. You're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Curiosity.com. I'm Ashley Hamer.
NATALIA REAGAN: And I'm Natalia Reagan. Today, you'll learn why spacesuits are white. And how to avoid drama by breaking the Karpman Drama Triangle. Then, test your podcast knowledge with this month's Curiosity Challenge trivia game.
ASHLEY HAMER: Let's satisfy some curiosity. Picture an astronaut. What do you see? Probably a big round helmet, a bulky spacesuit, and hefty boots and gloves. And almost all of it from the top of the helmet to the soles of the moon boots is white. Spacesuits have always been white. With some of the greatest minds in technology and design working on this, how has no one suggested another color.
Well, it turns out that spacesuits are white for a very good reason. The spacesuit you probably pictured, is called an EVA suit, or extravehicular activity suit. And it will always be white. Regardless of the country the astronauts come from. It's not simply so it stands out in photos, and it's not because it's a classic looking style. It's all about heat rejection. The suit is white, so it can reflect as much light and therefore heat, as possible.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Space is cold. Shouldn't the suit retain heat to keep the astronaut warm? And you're right. Space is cold. Generally. That is, except when the sun is shining. Daytime surface temperatures on the moon can reach 250 degrees Fahrenheit, or 120 degrees Celsius. During the Apollo missions, the spacesuits didn't need to keep the astronauts from freezing. They needed to keep them from frying.
That's because unfiltered solar radiation is powerful. On Earth, that radiation is diffused by the planet's atmosphere. So we don't really feel the sun's searing effects. But out in space, there's no atmosphere to protect you. By reflecting solar radiation, the suit can minimize the amount of heat it absorbs. This principle doesn't stop with the suits either. It's why the space shuttle, the ISS, and the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule are white too.
Even still, the color of the suit isn't enough. As reflective as it is, tons of radiation still soaks in. Because of this, the suit has other design elements to help with heat rejection. For example, the Apollo astronauts walked on the moon in suits cooled by networks of water tubes that dumped heat from the suit by freezing and sublimating, or vaporizing. But sublimation only works in a vacuum. So Mars EVA suits will have to use completely redesigned thermal systems. But one thing's for sure, even on Mars, those spacesuits will be white.
NATALIA REAGAN: Drama belongs on TV, not in our personal lives. But easier said than done, right? Luckily, there's a way you can avoid drama. You just have to break the Karpman Drama Triangle. This comes from psychologist Dr. Stephen Karpman, who noticed that there were some predictable elements to getting sucked into interpersonal drama. He found that any dramatic scenario tends to have three simple roles.
First, the victim, who feels victimized and powerless. Whether or not they actually are. The victim tends to point to a persecutor who might act defensive or angry. And like any good fairy tale, there's always the rescuer. A third party who tries to save the victim from the persecutor, though sometimes ends up enabling bad behavior instead. Karpman says that the triangle can feel good. Victims feel innocent. Persecutors feel powerful. Rescuers feel righteous. But it's a vicious cycle that's hard to escape.
The key to ditching the Drama Triangle is for each party to see their role in a different light and shift their focus to resolving the conflict. The victim can become the creator. This person takes charge to create a positive outcome to a conflict. The persecutor becomes the challenger. This person is honest, even when the truth is difficult and painful. That gives the creator an opportunity to reflect and grow.
And the rescuer, they become the coach. This person helps the creator solve their own problems, instead of doing it for them. In this reframing of the situation, there's still discomfort in pain, but there's no villain. Instead, there's a conflict between two players with decent intentions. Both of them have agency. Both take action and deal with its consequences. The coach is more of a sensible satellite role. All three work together to build a functional future. Sure this dynamic would make for terrible reality TV, but it has a lot of potential in real life.
ASHLEY HAMER: It's time, once again, for the Curiosity Challenge. Every month, I call up a listener, and I put them to the test by asking three questions from stories we ran on Curiosity Daily in the previous month. For this Curiosity Challenge, I talked to Colin in Irvine, California. We chatted a bit about his day before diving into the questions. And let's just say he was having a normal one for 2020.
COLIN: We're having a mini apocalypse here. There's a fire at the North end of our city. And they're actually evacuating the North third of our city.
ASHLEY HAMER: Oh, no.
COLIN: And the view out the window right now is, I don't know if you can quite see. See how gray and smoky things are out there.
ASHLEY HAMER: A little. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I can. I can see that. Yeah.
COLIN: Yes. It's raining ash on us as we walked my kids to school today.
ASHLEY HAMER: Oh my gosh. It's not fun in California right now.
COLIN: Yeah.
ASHLEY HAMER: Well, thank you for taking time out of the apocalypse to talk to me.
[LAUGHTER]
COLIN: It's OK. This is actually going to be the highlight of the day. So thank you for offering me the opportunity to talk with you.
ASHLEY HAMER: Of course. It'll be great. All right. Well, let's get started. I have three questions for you all from our October episodes. So--
COLIN: OK.
ASHLEY HAMER: Let's see.
COLIN: I hope to be a shooting star.
ASHLEY HAMER: [LAUGHS] Perfect. All right. Number one, this animal can deliver a punch at up to 50 miles an hour or 80 kilometers an hour without hurting itself. What animal is it? Is it A, the Eastern gray kangaroo. B, the mantis shrimp. Or C, the European hare.
COLIN: That one is B. And those are such cool animals.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, definitely. It is the mantis shrimp, for sure. Although, the Eastern gray kangaroo and the European hare, I looked this up, they both punch. They're both like very good boxers. [LAUGHS]
COLIN: Yeah. I actually think I'd rather be hit by the mantis shrimp than the kangaroo. Because the kangaroo is going to knock you out for sure.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah, they are large animals.
COLIN: Yes.
ASHLEY HAMER: Cool. All right. Number two, astronomers have detected rust on the moon. Why is this surprising? A, you need water to make rust and the moon doesn't have any water. B, you need oxygen to make rust and the moon doesn't have any oxygen. Or C, you need iron to make rust and the moon doesn't have any iron.
COLIN: B, you need oxygen.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yes. You need oxygen to make rust, that's right. And the reason that there is rust on the moon is because our atmosphere is providing that oxygen.
COLIN: That was one of my favorite episodes this month too. Because that one blew my mind. Like how is that even possible. So very cool.
ASHLEY HAMER: OK. final question for all the marbles. According to research recently shared on Curiosity Daily, what's the reason that people tend to root for a company like Apple more than a company like IBM. A, they identify Apple with an individual and people root more for winning individuals than teams. B, Apple has a famous logo and people prefer companies with memorable imagery. Or C, Apple's name comes earlier in the alphabet than IBM, and people prefer words in the first half of the alphabet.
COLIN: It is going to be A.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yes. They identify Apple with an individual, Steve Jobs, and people like winning individuals more than winning teams. You got all three right. Yes.
COLIN: Thank you. This was exciting. I'm glad I got a chance to play.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. I'm so happy you were on as well. And I'm so happy you're a listener. This is great.
COLIN: Thank you very much for setting this up.
ASHLEY HAMER: Absolutely. Well, I will let you get back to your day and your fires. I hope everything turns out OK.
COLIN: We'll be OK. Just might need to go buy some more HEPA air filters, so.
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah. When it came to conquering trivia, Colin definitely had a flame under him. Too much? Oh, well. How did you do? If you'd like to play next month, or if you have a question you'd like us to answer on the show, shoot us an email at podcast@curiosity.com or leave us a voicemail at 312-596-5208.
NATALIA REAGAN: Before we recap what we learned today, here's a sneak peek at what you'll hear next week on Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY HAMER: Next week, you'll learn about why agriculture relies on driving honeybees around the country. Why carbon-based life is a thing. The bright side of jealousy. Whether you should use plastic or wood cutting boards, and more. We'll also talk to world champion poker player turned decision strategist Annie Duke, about why we're probably making decisions all wrong and how to do it better. So now let's recap what we learned today.
NATALIA REAGAN: We learned that yes, space can be very cold. But it can also be very, very hot. And so, well, astronauts don't really want to fry up there. So white spacesuits actually reflect all that harmful heat and keep them from becoming crispy critters up in the atmosphere. We don't want that. They can cruise safely at some very high altitudes, right?
ASHLEY HAMER: Exactly. What's the line? Fashion is pain.
NATALIA REAGAN: Yeah. Something like that, right?
ASHLEY HAMER: Yeah in this case, if you went for some fashionable color, it would literally be pain.
NATALIA REAGAN: I'll just say this much, you don't see very many Goth astronauts.
ASHLEY HAMER: No, you don't.
NATALIA REAGAN: Just putting that out there. Yeah. I don't know if you know Goths up in trees, that wonderful hashtag or?
ASHLEY HAMER: No. But I'm going to look it up.
NATALIA REAGAN: Goths in space.
[LAUGHS]
ASHLEY HAMER: And we learned that we can keep drama to a minimum in our lives if we're able to reframe our roles. So if we're feeling like a victim, we can become a creator who takes agency and controls their situation. If you're being accused as the persecutor, you can become the challenger. You can try to be brutally honest and try to work toward a solution. And if you're the rescuer, who's trying to save the victim from danger, you can become the coach and help them help themselves. Now, there are no villains or heroes. Just people who all have agency and good intentions to find resolution to a conflict.
NATALIA REAGAN: This is what I'm talking about.
[LAUGHTER]
ASHLEY HAMER: No drama.
NATALIA REAGAN: No, get the axe. No, drama rama. I have no time for that. But yeah, I definitely see that if this could be taught, I feel like early on, this is something that I think kids can learn from. Because it reminds me of when I see squabbling amongst friends as a 40-year-old person. I think, goodness gracious, did we learn anything in high school. And I don't think we did. Because this stuff isn't taught. And people love playing the victim or love being on the attack, and that's tough.
ASHLEY HAMER: I honestly think so much of what I'm learning about interpersonal dynamics and healthy emotions is coming from podcasts, and op eds, and Twitter. Like I'm just learning how to do it from people I admire. And I feel like I probably should have learned it in a more traditional schooling system.
NATALIA REAGAN: Yeah. I feel like there's a lot of things that are not taught in school early on. I mean one is, what exactly is a credit card. Because we all know that a lot of people get one, and then all of a sudden--
ASHLEY HAMER: Yes.
NATALIA REAGAN: They're in a world of debt. But also just how to treat one another. I mean, obviously, you hear the Golden Rule. But I also think that things like what is race, and gender polarities, all these things that I think we're getting better about, and even Sex Ed. Stuff like that should be taught very early on, so you can avoid making mistakes that we all wish we may have avoided.
ASHLEY HAMER: Absolutely.
NATALIA REAGAN: Today's stories were written by Mae Rice and Cameron Duke and edited by Ashley Hamer, who's the managing editor for Curiosity Daily.
ASHLEY HAMER: Scriptwriting was by Natalia Reagan and Sonia Hodgin. Today's episode was edited by Jonathan McMichael, and our producer is Cody Gough.
NATALIA REAGAN: Be sure to avoid the drama. Have a great weekend and join us again on Monday to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY HAMER: And until then, stay curious.
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