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>> PEOPLE ON EARTH
USE NONVERBAL WAYS
TO COMMUNICATE EVERY DAY,
LIKE FACIAL EXPRESSIONS,
HAND SIGNALS,
BODY LANGUAGE,
AND AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE.
>> DURING THE, UH, SPACEWALK
AND JUST GENERALLY
DURING SPACE OPERATIONS
ALL THE TIME,
COMMUNICATION
IS HUGELY IMPORTANT,
SO TALKING TO THE PEOPLE
WHO ARE OUTSIDE,
TALKING TO PEOPLE ON THE GROUND.
AND OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE
RADIOS TO DO THAT,
BUT A LOT OF TIMES WE WIND UP
HAVING TO DO THAT NONVERBALLY.
THE "HOLD" SIGNAL.
SO WHETHER THAT MAYBE
SOMETIMES YOUR EARS
MAY NOT BE CLEARING FAST ENOUGH
AS THE PRESSURE'S CHANGING.
MAYBE YOU'RE-- SOMEONE'S
HELPING RESCUE YOU,
BUT YOU'RE STILL ATTACHED,
AND YOU REALIZE THAT.
AND SO IN ANY CASE
YOU GIVE THEM A "HOLD" SIGNAL,
AND THAT SHOULD TELL EVERYONE
TO STOP EVERYTHING THAT'S--
ALL THE MOVEMENT
AND KIND OF LOOK AROUND
FOR SOMETHING
THAT SEEMS ABNORMAL.
>> WE REALLY WANT
TO CHECK ON EACH OTHER,
CHECK ON OUR BUDDIES,
SO THE WAY WE USUALLY DO THAT IS
WE USE THE "OKAY" HAND SYMBOL.
AND SO WE'LL USE IT
AS A QUESTION AND AS AN ANSWER.
SO IF I'M POINTING AT RAJA
AND THEN GIVING HIM
THE "OKAY SIGN,"
I'M SAYING, "ARE YOU OKAY?"
AND IF HE IS, HE'LL TELL ME
"I AM OKAY."
>> THERE'S A LOT OF NONVERBAL
THAT JUST COMES FROM KNOWING
AND WORKING WITH PEOPLE
THAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE
WHEN YOU'RE WORKING
DAY IN AND DAY OUT,
ESPECIALLY ON
A HIGH STRESS THING
LIKE A SPACEWALK.
JUST A LOOK AT SOMEONE'S FACE
CAN TELL YOU, LIKE, EITHER,
"YEAH, I'M GOOD WITH THIS PLAN"
OR "I'VE GOT RESERVATIONS,
"MAYBE WE SHOULD STOP
AND TALK ABOUT THIS."
AND YOU CAN DO ALL THAT
WITH JUST A GLANCE,
EVEN THROUGH THE GLASS
OF THE SPACE HELMETS.
IF YOU'RE FLYING IN FORMATION,
WHICH WE PRACTICE IN THE T-38,
WE ALSO USE HAND SIGNALS
JUST TO KEEP UP
WITH THOSE SKILLS.
AND SO ONE OF
THE MOST COMMON THINGS
IS TRANSMITTING NUMBERS
WITH YOUR HANDS,
AND SO, ONE, TWO,
THREE, FOUR, AND FIVE
ARE PRETTY EASY.
AND THEN THE WAY WE DO
SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE--
SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, AND TEN
WITHOUT TAKING OUR HAND
OFF THE STICK
IS TO TURN YOUR HAND HORIZONTAL.
AND SO YOU CAN DO THE SAME THING
WITH AIR PRESSURE.
SO FOR EXAMPLE IF I HAD
A PROBLEM WITH MY SUIT,
AND I WAS TRYING--
SHE WAS TRYING
TO TELL ME, YOU KNOW,
"WHAT IS YOUR OXYGEN PRESSURE?"
AND I COULDN'T TALK
'CAUSE I HAD
A COMMUNICATIONS PROBLEM,
I COULD STILL TELL KAYLA,
YOU KNOW, I COULD
TELL HER A ONE,
AND THEN THIS WOULD
TELL HER ONE AND SIX.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, I COULD DO
A COMBINATION OF THOSE NUMBERS
TO TRANSMIT TO HER NONVERBALLY
WHAT THE STATE
OF ANY OF MY VALUES, UH,
ON MY SUIT,
WHETHER IT'S SUIT PRESSURE,
WATER PRESSURE, TEMPERATURE,
ALL THE DIFFERENT
NUMERICAL VALUES,
WE CAN USE HAND SIGNALS
FOR THAT.
>> MAYBE WE COULD DEMONSTRATE
A FEW FOR EACH OTHER
AND SEE IF WE CAN TELL
WHAT THE OTHER PERSON'S
HAND SIGNALS ARE?
UH, SO I'LL GO FIRST, RAJA,
AND YOU CAN SEE IF YOU--
IF YOU KNOW WHAT
I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU.
>> WHAT DO YOU THINK
KAYLA IS TRYING TO COMMUNICATE?
IS SHE TELLING RAJA
SHE CAN'T HEAR?
THAT HE NEEDS TO CLEAN
HIS HELMET VISOR?
OR ASKING HIM WHAT SONG
HE'S LISTENING TO?
>> ALL RIGHT, SO WHAT KAYLA
IS TELLING ME THERE
IS SHE'S POINTING TO HERSELF,
WHICH IS INDICATING THAT--
THE PERSON WHO HAS THE PROBLEM.
YOU CAN ALSO POINT
AT SOMEONE ELSE,
BUT IN HER CASE
SHE'S POINTING AT HERSELF,
SO SHE'S TELLING ME
SHE HAS A PROBLEM.
AND THEN SHE WAVED
ACROSS HER EAR,
WHICH IS TELLING ME
SHE CAN'T HEAR.
OKAY, SO LET'S SAY
WE HAVE THAT SAME SCENARIO.
SO WE'VE HAD SOME KIND
OF LOSS OF COMM.
AND KAYLA CAME TO CHECK ON ME
WHILE I WAS OUT ON A SPACEWALK.
WHEN SHE GOT THERE
I MIGHT GIVER HER
A SIGNAL LIKE THIS.
>> CAN YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT
RAJA IS TRYING TO COMMUNICATE?
THAT THEY NEED TO MOVE
TO THE OTHER SIDE
OF THE SPACE STATION?
THAT THEY NEED TO WRAP UP
AND FINISH WHAT THEY'RE DOING?
OR IS HE ASKING HER
TO DO A FLIP IN MICROGRAVITY?
>> SO THERE RAJA WOULD BE
TRYING TO COMMUNICATE TO ME
THAT WE NEED TO SPEED THINGS UP.
MAYBE HE HAS A PROBLEM
THAT'S ACCELERATING
OR GETTING WORSE,
SO HE'S SAYING
"IT'S KIND OF AN URGENT
"SITUATION HERE,
LET'S GET A MOVE ON,"
MORE OR LESS.
>> NEXT TIME YOU SEE
ASTRONAUTS ON A SPACEWALK,
LOOK OUT FOR SOME
OF THE HAND SIGNALS
YOU LEARNED TODAY.
YOU CAN EVEN TRY THEM OUT
WITH YOUR FRIENDS
TO TALK IN YOUR OWN
NONVERBAL CODE.
FOR MORE FUN WITH STEM,
VISIT STEM.NASA.GOV.
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