Wow, Mars!? I know that’s kind of bad but it’s also kind of awesome.
We live a mile south of the MN/IA border (we live in Iowa but the nearest town is in Minnesota, just 6 miles north), and this is not my first -20F day. It’s a funny thing, stepping outside when it’s this cold; I find it feels as though it’s wet, not because of any moisture, but just because it’s so cold that my body reads it as wet from the drastic temperature drop.
But, back to that exciting part about Mars.
I’ve often compared putting on all the pieces of my winter gear to putting on a space suit, and I’m not going to lie, I sometimes go full mental role play when it’s this cold and I’m going out to feed animals in the barn. Like, I start mentally referring to the house as the exploratory base and my car as the rover and I’ll say I’m going out on a solo surface mission and whatnot; if my scarf slips off my face, I have a helmet breach, and so on. (I could probably pick more accurate scientific space terms, especially after reading the Martian, but it’s usually just in my head so I don’t typically pay too much attention to accuracy). Apparently, I never realized how semi-accurate I was actually being!
So wait, wait though. Are you actually telling me that the winter gear currently in my possession--knee-length down coat rated to ~ -20F, wool scarf, felt-lined wool mittens, wool hat, snow boots, snow pants, etc... Is what you’re saying that with the clothing I currently own, I could potentially walk around on the surface of Mars without actually needing a space suit?? I mean, I guess there are also other factors, like oxygen and pressure and things, but I’m suddenly feeling like a patched together homemade spacesuit made from the winter gear I already have and like maybe a scuba diving tank or something is way more viable than I had previously considered. It’s a good thing I don’t have any way of quickly transporting myself to Mars right now or the high level of childish space energy currently flooding me might make me foolish enough to try it.
Also I just had this moment where I thought, “it’s like I’m in space!” and then remembered that the earth actually is a planet that is in space, so, technically... I am in space. So, in conclusion, stay warm, my fellow space travellers, and may your space suits/winter gear serve you well :)
It’s 19-20 F (-7 C) whole-ass degrees at the Larsen Ice Shelf in Antartica.
Google says it’s -7 F (-22 C) in St. Paul, MN.
Congratulate it’s nearly 30 degrees warmer in antartica rn, stay toasty and be real smug about living through this.