SOMEONE PLZ HELP M Neil Armstrong was a U. S. astronaut and the first person to walk on the moon. When he set foot on the lunar surface, he was wearing a bubble-shaped helmet. It had visors that he could raise and lower whenever he wanted. The innermost visor was made of polycarbonate shielding. This is a special material created by scientists. The shielding helped protect Armstrong from getting an overdose of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Like visible light beams, UV rays are energy waves released by our sun. Some exposure to those waves can do a body good. For example, ultraviolet B (UV-B) rays tell human skin to manufacture vitamin D3. Too much exposure can be harmful, though. Overexposure to UV rays can damage DNA, opening the door for skin cancer. Too much sun can also cause painful sunburns.

There are three different types of UV energy waves. They are ultraviolet A (UV-A), ultraviolet B (UV-B) and ultraviolet C (UV-C) rays. Each type moves at a different wavelength, with UV-A's being the longest. Rays of UV-C are considered especially harmful to human beings. Fortunately, we have the ozone layer of the Earth's atmosphere. It absorbs nearly all of the UV-C rays and most of the UV-B ones.

Sunscreen defends us from the UV rays that do pass through the ozone layer. Wearing appropriate clothing helps as well.

The moon doesn't have much of an atmosphere, though. Its surface is awash in ultraviolet energy. There's evidence that the abundant UV rays may be partly responsible for the moon's clouds of lunar dust.

Special Spacesuits And See-Through Helmets

For this reason, the moon is a dangerous place to visit without protection. You might think that astronauts who visit the moon would come home with terrible sunburns. That didn't happen to Armstrong and company. These astronauts all wore special spacesuits on their missions. Spacesuits are made with heavy fabrics that block out UV rays.

The suits also come with see-through helmets. For these, designers use ultraviolet-stabilized polycarbonate. It is a very tough plastic that protects astronauts' faces from UV rays. A weaker material could put the space travelers at risk for "snow blindness" and other problems. Conditions like these arise when UV rays damage parts of the human eye.

No Need For Sunscreen

As it stands, there's really no need for an astronaut to put on sunscreen. That said, one did get a sunburn on his back in 1963. Gene Cernan had been orbiting the Earth, working on the outside of his spacecraft. The outer seams on his suit ripped, exposing him to intense solar heat.

The risk of sunburn goes way down when astronauts are inside a spaceship. Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), for example, there is no need for special suits. Astronauts regularly do their work in nothing but ordinary cotton shirts and pants. To protect them from sunburns, the ISS uses UV-blocking windows. So do most space exploration vehicles.

Back on the moon, though, things are more dangerous. UV rays may have claimed some nonhuman victims. Over the years, astronauts have planted six American flags on the moon. Some scientists think that powerful UV rays could have bleached them white by now.

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