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Solution to Fortnightly Challenge - Feb 17- Mar 1, 2024

We received a number of interesting responses to this question! The best answer was from Sudhanva Yenigalla of Grade 7, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Reliance Foundation School, who said-


The astronauts can touch their helmets which will provide a medium for the sound to pass and they will be able to talk to each-other now.

Interestingly, his first answer was "There is a way to talk in space when the radio communication is not working. The astronauts have their spacesuits filled with air. They can connect their spacesuits with a hollow tube. They can now talk as the sound gets air as a medium to travel." He was on the right track and the hollow tube would also work- but it would not provide air as a medium for sound to travel but the vibrations (waves) would move through the material of the tube. It is great that Sudhanva thought about this further and refined his answer after a couple of days! There were other creative and valid answers- we share some of them below-


  • They can still communicate through ways that do not require sound, i.e. things like sign language.

  • They could use morse or tap code to communicate with each other. The problem that this solution has is that sound can't travel through space(vacuum), hence they can tap on the suit of each other. They will feel the vibration.

  • They can use Morse Code by Blinking their eyes or by flickering a torch.

  • They can do Lip reading



The Question





2 astronauts are in outer space. They are in their spacesuits (of course!) and close to each other. Their radio communication stops working. Can you think of a way they can still speak to each other?

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