Hi, I'm NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson.
Along with my crewmates,
we're living and working
250 miles above Earth
on the International Space Station.
And today,
we're going to be talking about chemistry
with a special guest.
Let's go!
Before we get going up here on station,
let's hear from our guest back on Earth.
Maynard,
we're glad to have you with us today.
Hey, Tracy.
The pleasure is absolutely all mine,
and I'm so excited
to be working with you.
My name is Maynard Okereke,
also known as the hip hop M.D.
and I love talking
and teaching about STEM related topics.
You know,
you astronauts living in space
can do things during a normal day
that would take superpowers
to do back here on Earth.
But even with superpowers,
you still have to take care
of the basics.
For example,
it's still very important
to take care of your dental hygiene.
So things like brushing your teeth
are just as support
on the International Space Station
as they are
when you're right here at home.
That's right, Maynard.
But can you help us tell our audience
how keeping
the teeth clean is related
to the subject of chemical reactions?
Oh, of course.
I'd be happy to.
You see a chemical reaction is a process
where different
chemicals interact
in a way that causes
the smallest parts to rearrange,
forming new substances
that can look
and behave very differently
than the original chemicals.
The outcome of the process
depends on the properties of the elements
or compounds in the reaction.
Some chemical reactions
can turn two things
that would hurt you on their own,
like sodium and chlorine
into something safe to eat like salt.
Other chemical reactions
are very energetic and can even explode.
You can see chemical
reactions happening around you every day.
Have you ever seen an old metal fence?
The rust on the fence
is an example of a chemical reaction
called oxidation.
Oxidation happens
when iron is exposed to oxygen
in the presence of water.
These reactions take place all over,
not just on Earth.
Did you know
oxidation is why Mars has its red color?
That's right. Mars is rusted.
When you light the
candles on your birthday cake,
that's a kind of chemical reaction too.
You know,
that flame you blow out
when you make a wish.
Well, that's fuel,
heat and oxygen
coming together
in a chemical reaction of combustion.
We do studies on combustion
here on the space station.
In space
fire takes on a different shape
because of the lack of gravity.
Instead of forming
the kind of teardrop shape
that you're used to,
a flame in space is round like a ball.
Chemical reactions
are typically displayed as an equation,
with the left side
being called reactants
or literally
the things
that are reacting with each other.
The right side of the equation
is known as the product.
The thing being produced
from the reaction.
You can normally identify
a chemical reaction
by observing the changes that occur
when the chemicals meet.
You might see a change in color.
There could be fizzing or bubbles.
You might even see light being produced
or smoke
and maybe even feel a
change in temperature.
Water can undergo chemical
reactions
that we're very interested in here
at NASA.
As part of Artemus
and other missions,
we can take the water
or H2O
that we find in places
like the Moon or Mars
and break it apart
into its Hs or hydrogen
and its Os, oxygen.
We can use the oxygen
we produce to breathe
and the hydrogen
to make fuel for our rockets.
Here on Earth.
We rely on chemical reactions
to make many of the everyday things
we use, like medicine, plastics
and even birthday cakes.
We also rely on these reactions
to clean things,
even things that help
with our dental hygiene,
such as retainers.
Like many of you,
some astronauts wear retainers,
which they also have to keep clean
on a regular basis.
Now, you might wonder how exactly
a cleaning process
like that would actually work in space.
Well, luckily,
I know someone
who has the right materials
and more importantly, the right location
to show you.
So I'm on the space
station and like many folks,
I have a retainer.
And also it's like many folks
that probably like you.
I don't always wear it every night,
but when I do wear it
every night when I should,
it gets a little dirty and so on
Earth, normally you would,
you know, I would wake up in the morning
and I would take this retainer
and I would put it in a glass
on my bathroom counter
and I would put a small cleaning tablet
just like this into the glass
and let it sit there and it would clean
while I'm doing things during the day.
And then at night
I would rinse this off
and then use my retainer again at night.
But up here,
gravity doesn't keep water in a glass.
And so,
you know,
the boring way to do it
is is to put water from,
you know,
for example,
this drink bag into the Ziploc bag
and close the Ziploc bag
and then put the tablet in here.
But we're
in space and bubbles are water of fun.
So what if we didn't
have to put it in a glass?
What if we just made a bubble of water
and then put
the tablet into the water
and we could watch it
bubble in the water, the bubble,
and then try
to slide the retainer
into the bubble of water.
So we're going to start the tube down.
We wanted this ball of water
to stay right here.
So to make it a little bit bigger,
I remember it well.
It should
remember
I don't know what's going to happen.
We're going to come up
with a little bit of velocity
and then quickly take that off.
There we go.
The tablets in
the blue ball
is growing with this effervescent tablet.
I think it's
kind of fun that
you can come along with me with this out.
There goes Look at that.
Check that out.
It's just absorbing
onto the retainer.
That's pretty slick.
And so now that little
effervescent tablet is dissolving
into these little
and making these little gas bubbles and
the water is kind of
through surface tension
made its way around the retainer.
But this is a much more fun way
to clean your retainer
than to put it in a bag,
put some water there, seal it.
Now, that was a cool way
to show a chemical reaction.
I I'm so happy and super hyped
I got to hang out with all of you today
and talk some chemistry.
Looking forward to see ya soon.
We're happy to have you.
Maynard.
This was just a simple example
to show
how one type of chemical reaction
can have the power to get things clean.
But just think about
how many other chemical reactions
we observe daily
without really noticing them.
Make some observations today.
Can you find other chemical reactions
around your home, even in nature
or maybe happening inside your own body?
Chemical reactions are a great way
to put the scientific method into action.
As you make observations,
try new combinations
and change
environmental conditions
to see what new results you can get.
Just remember to always be safe
and to always perform
your experiments
with an adult’s supervision
and permission.
I hope this gave you a better idea
of how astronauts
keep up with our normal daily routines.
It might be easier for you at home,
but the science behind it is the same.
Thanks for joining us here
on the space station.
We'll see you next time.
And don't forget to take
good care of your smile.