Astronaut Clarifies If Loud Explosions Can Be Heard In Space

Former astronaut Chris Hadfield clarified some of the most common myths about space. One popular notion he discussed is if it would be possible to hear loud explosions in space.

Hadfield was a former astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency and previously served as the commander of the International Space Station (ISS). He is known as the first Canadian to walk in space.

In a video released by Wired last year, Hadfield debunked some of the most common myths about space. One of the myths the former astronaut talked about was concerning loud explosions in space.

According to Hadfield, loud explosions occur in space. Probably the most prominent one is the constant explosion of the Sun. As noted by the former astronaut, the giant star’s continuous explosions are more powerful than all of the atom bombs ever built on Earth.

“The Sun is the biggest explosion any of us can imagine,” Hadfield explained. “It’s a huge continuous thermonuclear explosions every atom bomb we’ve ever built way more than that continuously exploding. It would be the loudest thing imaginable.”

Despite the violent nature of the Sun’s constant explosions, Hadfield noted that even astronauts in space couldn’t hear them simply due to the vast emptiness and vacuum of space. In other words, the sound of the explosions produced by the Sun can’t travel across space.

On Earth, sound travels by causing the molecules in the air to vibrate. However, since there is no air in space and due to the vast empty areas between the Sun, planets and other stars, there are no molecules that can carry sounds across. Even though the Sun produces loud explosions, the absence of molecules prevents their sound from reaching Earth or astronauts aboard the ISS.

“It’s constantly happening but we don’t hear a whisper of it and that’s because there’s nothing to carry the sound from the Sun to us even though it’s incredibly violent,” Hadfield stated. “There’s nowhere for the pressure of all of that sound all of that noise to be carried across the emptiness of space to shake my eardrum and let me hear the sound of the Sun.”