Cool Space Trivia Inspired By The Korean Show

If you’re one of the K-drama fans out there watching When the Stars Gossip, you may have found yourself asking a ton of questions about space travel and astronaut life during the show. Starring A-listers Lee Min-ho and Kong Hyo-jin, When the Stars Gossip follows the unlikely romance that unfolds between Gong Ryong (Lee), a skilled OB-GYN and future son-in-law of the chairman of Korea’s biggest conglomerate, and Eve Kim (Kong), a Korean American astronaut and leader of the expedition that Ryong happens to join as a space tourist.

Billed as the first Korean romantic series and workplace drama to be set in space, When the Stars Gossip boldly ventures forth into areas previously unexplored by other K-dramas, leveraging state-of-the-art visual effects to simulate space exploration and featuring surprising scenarios that you likely won’t see even in most Hollywood films and TV shows about space.

From the outset, the series treats audiences to a bevy of fascinating facts about space travel, from lightning strikes during rocket launches to the astronomical cost of hitching a ride as a space tourist. There are lots of interesting space trivia packed into the first few episodes alone, as well as some scenes that might have raised all sorts of space-related questions from viewers.

So here are 12 questions that you might have had while watching When the Stars Gossip, along with answers to those questions based on multiple online sources.

Warning: Some spoilers ahead!

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1. Has South Korea Ever Sent Astronauts Into Space?

South Korea’s first and only astronaut sent into space is Dr. Yi So-yeon, who in April 2008 traveled to the International Space Station (ISS) alongside two Russian cosmonauts. The Soyuz vehicle carrying the crew launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the same launch site shown in When the Stars Gossip.

Yi, a bioengineering student at the time, carried out numerous scientific experiments and medical tests while on board the ISS. During her return trip to Earth, the capsule crash landed in Kazakhstan, requiring Yi to be hospitalized for back injuries. She eventually left her astronaut career in 2014.

2. In ‘When The Stars Gossip,’ The Price Of Gong Ryong’s Ticket To Space Is 70 Billion KRW (About 48 Million USD). How Much Does It Cost To Be Flown Into Space As A Space Tourist In Real Life?

Three companies currently dominate the space tourism industry: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Prices for a ticket to space vary widely. Virgin Galactic used to be one of the cheaper options at around $250,000 per seat, but by 2024 it was charging space tourists about $900,000 per ticket, which is still cheaper than the $1.25 million that Blue Origin reportedly charges (that said, it’s worth noting that passengers on Blue Origin have paid anywhere from $0 to over $28 million).

In 2022 three wealthy businessmen paid $55 million each for a ride aboard a SpaceX rocket that took them to the ISS—a figure that’s a lot closer to the 70 billion KRW amount quoted in the K-drama. And while that sounds like a whopping number, they got to spend about 10 days in space—versus the few minutes that one would get with Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin—so they certainly got more bang for their buck.

Many space tourists do more than just sit and stare out through a porthole; for example, some conduct and participate in experiments in microgravity conditions that could reveal more insights into human health and other areas of science.

3. Can A Rocket Be Struck By Lightning During Liftoff?

Lightning strikes during rocket launches are rare, but they have happened in the past. The most shocking example occurred on November 14, 1969 when the Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 12 mission got struck by lightning twice just seconds after liftoff. Thankfully the crew was able to travel safely to the moon and successfully complete their mission. Since then, restrictions have been put in place for launching missions under stormy weather conditions.

4. Do Astronauts Carry Guns In Space?

In the show, expedition commander Eve Kim stores a gun in her kit in case of emergencies, but are guns actually allowed in space?

According to notable space journalist and historian James Oberg, while “guns were never carried aboard U.S. spacecraft,” Russian cosmonauts used to carry a gun on their space missions, stored in a metal canister between two of their seats on the Soyuz rocket. The gun was to be used only if the cosmonauts landed far off-course upon their return trip to Earth and, say, encountered a wolf, bear or other wild animal. After a successful mission, the gun would be given as a gift to the Soyuz spacecraft commander.

However, in a subsequent article published in 2014, Oberg noted that an astronaut had told him that while a gun remains on the official list of Soyuz emergency kit items, a committee convenes to review the list before every mission and votes to remove the gun for that mission.

5. Do Cell Phones Work In Space? How Do Astronauts Make And Receive Calls In Space?

Mobile phones obviously won’t get cell service in space, but astronauts can still access the internet using their smartphones via a network of communications satellites (called “Tracking and Data Relay Satellites,” or TDRS for short) and Earth-based antennas, allowing astronauts to check emails, make video calls and more.

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6. What Is A SuitSat? And Are There Dead Astronauts Floating In Space?

Gong Ryong sees what he believes to be the corpse of a dead astronaut floating in space, but it later turns out to be something called a “Suit Satellite,” or “SuitSat.”

The SuitSat, or SuitSat-1, was an actual discarded Russian spacesuit that was stuffed with old clothes and mounted with a radio transmitter. Released from the ISS into the Earth’s orbit on February 3, 2006, it served as a makeshift satellite, broadcasting messages and data before its radio signal went virtually silent after a couple of weeks. It eventually burned up upon reentering the Earth’s atmosphere.

Fortunately, so far there aren’t any known dead human bodies floating around in space.

7. What Kinds Of Animals Have Been Sent Into Space?

Fruit flies are some of the non-anthropoid stars in this K-drama, and as it turns out, they were also the first animals to be sent into space back in 1947. Mice and other rodents, dogs, monkeys and a rabbit were also launched into space in the ensuing years to test whether living beings could survive space—all before Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel to space in 1961. Since then, humans have launched all sorts of creatures into space, including tortoises, frogs, cockroaches, honeybees, jellyfish and more.

8. Can Humans Reproduce In Space?

Like real astronauts at the ISS, the crew aboard the International LEO (low Earth orbit) Station in When the Stars Gossip is tasked with carrying out some science experiments that could reveal new insights into human health and diseases. Gong Ryong sneaks his prospective sister-in-law Min-jung’s eggs on board LEO with the goal of performing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with her late husband’s sperm cells, marking the first time that human egg cells have ever been taken to space.

In real life—as in the series—human eggs have never before been carried into space, but human sperm has. In 2018 NASA sent frozen samples of human (and bull) sperm to the ISS to study the effects of microgravity on sperm motility. And while scientists still aren’t sure if human reproduction is possible in space, it seems they’re getting ever closer to finding out, largely thanks to recent advances like successfully growing mouse embryos aboard the ISS and making rodent IVF a possibility in space in the near future.

9. How Does Being In Space Affect Your Body?

At one point in the show, Min-jung tells her father-in-law, the chairman of MZ Group, different ways in which microgravity affects the body. While it’s widely known that being in space stretches your spine and makes you a bit taller, a lesser-known fact is that it also smooths out fine wrinkles in your face since the lack of gravity allows fluids to easily move up to your head, as noted in a 2021 Allure article. That said, any dermatological benefits of microgravity are outweighed by its cons: microgravity can cause skin to become less elastic and thinner over a short period of time, resulting in dryness, peeling, bruising and a host of other skin issues.

The same Allure piece notes that astronaut Scott Kelly’s telomeres—the ends of a chromosome that shorten as people age—were found to have grown longer while he was in space, though they shrunk back when he returned to Earth. But more recent studies have suggested that chronic oxidative stress—and not microgravity—likely cause telomeres to lengthen in space. Chronic oxidative stress, a condition in which the body contains way more free radicals than antioxidants, can be caused by environmental factors like increased exposure to radiation, and while it may temporarily elongate telomeres, it also damages them too. It’s yet another example of how space travel actually does the body more harm than good.

As for whether crooked sperm can become straight in space, it seems like the jury’s still out on that.

10. What Would Happen If An Astronaut’s Spacesuit Were To Puncture While In Space?

In When the Stars Gossip Eve Kim punctures her right glove on a solar panel during a spacewalk gone wrong, and air begins leaking out of her glove. A spacesuit has many layers to protect astronauts from floating space dust and debris, and a tiny hole in the innermost layer will likely be sealed by the skin immediately beneath it (though that would probably be very painful).

But if the tear were large enough, the rapid depressurization would cause the gases in the astronaut’s body to expand quickly and bubble over due to the pressure difference. At the same time, the astronaut would pass out after about 15 seconds due to the lack of oxygen. In any case, they would likely die within a couple of minutes if they’re not immediately rescued.

Fortunately though, so far no one has died due to a spacesuit malfunction.

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11. Why Do Astronauts Have To Undergo Decompression Before Going Into Space?

Astronaut Lee Seung-jun puts on his spacesuit in an attempt to rescue Eve, but he cannot exit the spacecraft immediately and is instead forced to undergo decompression first.

Before going on a spacewalk, astronauts must follow a decompression protocol to avoid getting decompression sickness (more commonly known as “the bends”), a condition in which nitrogen gas bubbles form in the body due to low pressure, leading to joint pain, dizziness and possibly death. To purge their body of nitrogen, an astronaut needs to breathe pure oxygen for a few hours, both before and after donning a spacesuit. Much of this happens inside an airlock, where the pressure is gradually lowered until the astronaut is finally ready to step outside into space.

Of course, in the series it’s Gong Ryong who ends up rescuing Eve by jumping into his spacesuit and out of the spacecraft without following proper procedures, but in real life he likely would’ve died after being exposed to the vacuum of space for so long.

12. Can (And Do) Astronauts Eat Ice Cream In Space?

And finally, the most important question of all: can ice cream be eaten in space?

Turns out the perfect place to eat ice cream is inside a space station, where the temperature hovers around 75 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning the frozen treat won’t melt as quickly as it would on a hot summer day on Earth. Plus, surface tension will keep the ice cream from falling apart, and microgravity will prevent it from dropping to the ground, so no need to worry about it dripping and getting all over your hands (or the floor).

Cargo missions to the ISS often carry freezers that will later transport scientific samples back to Earth. On the way to the ISS, these freezers will sometimes be stocked with ice cream for the astronauts to enjoy.

As for that freeze-dried “astronaut ice cream” that’s sold in some museum gift shops? Unlike what many American children have been taught in schools, astronauts don’t actually eat that stuff, partly because the brittle crumbs could fly everywhere in space. And besides, why would they consume such a tasteless substitute when they can have the real thing?

When the Stars Gossip is currently streaming on Netflix in select regions.

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