It is not easy to find the love of barbecue in our society in other countries, it is an activity that almost everyone likes. We can do it at the picnic, on the balcony, in the field, anywhere.
Well, let’s say one day we went to space and we craved a barbecue in space, we said, let’s have a barbecue if possible. Can we really do this? Based on our knowledge of the conditions of other planets and moons, let’s see how possible this crazy idea is! Although the subject may seem absurd, rest assured that you will learn a lot.
Let’s look at spacecraft first: There is a “no open fire” rule in spacecraft.
NASA astronauts cannot make open fires and cook food in space, they only see as much fire as their source tools come out when necessary. The reason for this is the risk of fire on the spacecraft. No one would risk billion-dollar stations or multi-million-dollar vehicles because there is no such thing as a space fire department.
Result: The barbecue cannot be lit.
Then let’s imagine that we somehow decided to light a barbecue in the vacuum of space.
In this case, the first thing we should do is to look at the ambient temperature. If you are a little outside of our planet’s atmosphere, your position to the Sun is of great importance. Because, depending on the position of the Sun, the temperature can be 120 degrees or -100 degrees. The charcoal burns between 230-350 degrees Celsius, so we have a chance to ignite the coal in terms of heat. On the other hand, since there will be no oxygen where we are, this combustion will not be in such a way as to cause fire. So there’s a coal that emits heat but doesn’t have a fire.
In addition, heat dissipation in space is not by touch or fluidity as on our planet, but by radiation. This can cause half of the coal to be heated while the other half remains cold. The meat we take into space will deteriorate as soon as it is exposed to this effect. Without fire, there will be no barbecue with bad meat.
Result: The barbecue cannot be lit.
Then we’ll go to other planets too!
If we went to the planet GORA, let’s cut the sausages from the sausage tree and burn them immediately, it’s okay, but in practice this is not the case. Once, we barely set foot on the Moon, and we didn’t stay long enough to have a barbecue. Let’s see if there is an untouched, beautiful barbecue place on the surrounding planets and celestial bodies.
Ay: We also know the way, we have gone.
The satellite of our planet does not have such an atmosphere, the atmosphere of the satellite is 1 billion times thinner than our atmosphere. Moreover, the most common gas type we encounter in the Moon atmosphere is argon. Argon is a noble gas, it does not react like that. We can try burning helium, the second most common gas, but it will also be more of a flashing and short-lived. When you say that oxygen or other combustible gas will come across in the thin atmosphere and the temperature will be ideal, the barbecue business is again a lie.
Result: The barbecue cannot be lit.
Let’s come to our next stop, Mars:
When we look at the atmosphere of the red planet, which is the target of some space agencies, we encounter an interesting situation, the atmosphere of the planet consists of 96% carbon dioxide. In this case, we need to light a fire on an alkaline solution quite close to the ground. It is possible to set up such a system in which we keep the carbon in the solution and separate the oxygen.
We can start a fire with the oxygen released, but it will not be a very intense fire and it will not burn for a very long time. Although we cannot cook long-cooked meats, it seems like we can make chicken or meatballs. By the way, barbecue should be lit at a sunny time, otherwise it may be difficult to reach the burning temperature as it will be too cold.
Result: It lights up but only for a short time under certain conditions.
Venus: The planet where there is no need for barbecue.
As soon as Venus enters its atmosphere, both meat and coal will burn because the average temperature on Venus, the hottest planet, is 400 degrees. The atmosphere, mostly carbon dioxide, is so dense that the pressure 93 times higher than on our planet would crush both coal and meat. Moreover, the planet’s atmosphere is filled with sulfuric acid.
Conclusion: We don’t need to burn it, and it’s inedible.
Mercury: Barbecue right next to the Sun.
Although we go to Mercury to barbecue, where the temperatures vary between 457 and -172 degrees, the air temperature fluctuating at 50 degrees per hour and the constant thinning of the atmosphere can make it difficult. Otherwise, Mercury has oxygen in its atmosphere, while light gases are blown out into space, medium-weight gases remain.
Result: The barbecue can be lit even for a very short time, but it does not burn too much, nor does it burn very efficiently. No good comes from that meat either.
Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn: where will they put the brazier?
Since these planets are gas giants, there is no place to put a barbecue, wear striped pajamas and play with a watermelon ball. It is not possible to have a barbecue like that. The planets are pretty cold; -100, -200 degrees is normal for these planets.
Saturn’s largest moon Titan: Shall we have a barbecue before Thanos arrives?
The atmospheric pressure of the planet, which is known to be a stable liquid on its surface in the solar system, is also close to Earth. Titan, which has plenty of nitrogen in its atmosphere, is a satellite thought to have lakes and seas made of methane gas. There is even a possibility that bacteria may be living on the surface of the satellite.
Titan’s atmosphere, on the other hand, is densely composed of nitrogen. This means that we will not be able to find the oxygen necessary to start a fire. Nitrogen is also not a flammable gas. It was also a hit that the atmosphere of a satellite with methane seas was not flammable, otherwise we could have burned the entire satellite because we were going to have a barbecue.
Result: The barbecue cannot be lit.
Europa, the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter:
This small moon has no atmosphere, its surface is -100 degrees at its hottest, and it is possible that there is an ocean under its frozen crust, but we do not know for sure. In terms of barbecue, there is no atmosphere, the temperature is very low, so we could not barbecue here.
Result: No barbecue.
So again, the best place for barbecue is our own planet, it seems unlikely that we can do it in space or on another planet. At least, it doesn’t seem like we have an off-Earth prospect for a barbecue as we’re used to it.