Spacesuits - personal spaceship

RobertDyck · 2004-01-03 19:42:46

I've received a private request to start a thread for suits with links.

Newt Suit - by Sub-Find
Newt Suit - by the inventor
spacesuit-mars - Mars Society discussion group for suits, emphasizing an operational analog suit
Space Activity Suit - Dr. Paul Webb's original work in 1968 on Mechanical Counter Pressure
The contractor report from Paul Webb and James Annis to NASA in 1971 on Mechanical Counter Pressure is report number 1892 (NASA CR-1892). Members of the spacesuit-mars group have a copy, as do I, but the copyright doesn't permit me to publish it.
W. Mitchell Clapp developed a Mechanical Counter Pressure glove compatible with the EMU (Space Shuttle suit). The paper was presented in January 1984 at a conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, paper number AIAA-84-0067. AIAA
Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International - primary contractor for the EMU
ILC Dover Space Suits - manufacturer of the suits (Apollo through EMU) but not the PLSS (backpack)
A7L-B Apollo suit
MarsSkin- Mars Society Australia's spacesuit project
NASA's spacesuit page
Aspen Aerogels - manufacturer of a drapeable aerogel including an antarctic parka (durable enough for Mars?)
CO2 control
Lithium-Ion battery
Gore-Tex - suitable outer layer for Mars?
SympaTex - similar to Gore-Tex
Thinsulate Ultra - thermal insulation if aerogel is too fragile

Palomar · 2004-01-03 20:53:58

I've received a private request to start a thread for suits with links.

*Now that sounds all nice and mysterious. Who was it Robert...who, who?

I'll check out the links...looks interesting.

Gore-Tex, huh? Is that an Al and Dubya collaboration (say it isn't so!)?

--Cindy

P.S.: If I can't have a purple and gold paisley patterned spacesuit, I'm not going... ::sniff::

Bill White · 2004-01-03 22:45:49

Robert, what is your personal opinion of MarsSkin? Do we need to pressurize?

Rxke · 2004-01-04 01:44:58

Thank you, RobertDyck, for the nice and swift reaction (yes, it was me....)

Between the other news items, i already know what i'll be reading today!

Aaaah what a beautiful day!

Shaun Barrett · 2004-01-04 07:18:36

I don't profess to know a great deal about spacesuits but the Mars-skin elastic pressure suit seems to have a lot going for it.
Why is it that NASA seems to be 'stuck' on the same bulky, heavy unwieldy type of suit it's been using for 30-odd years? Whenever you check out a NASA site looking for advanced Mars EVA suit design, you get the same old 'crab-shell' hard suit with pressurised limbs and rotating metal joints and weighing over 300 lbs here on Earth (maybe 120 lbs on Mars)!
What's their problem? Why aren't they investigating the mechanical pressure type of suit (elastic)?
???

RobertDyck · 2004-01-05 11:37:19

Robert, what is your personal opinion of MarsSkin? Do we need to pressurize?

MarsSkin is based on Mechanical Counter Pressure. Their project advisors include Dr. Alan Hargens and Dr. Paul Webb himself. The principle is an elastic layer that provides the same pressure as a traditional pressure suit, but the space between threads of the fabric is open. Dr. Paul Webb pointed out that the tensile strength of human skin is hundreds of times greater than the pressure differential between suit pressure and vacuum. Oxygen and CO2 leakage through human skin exposed to hard vacuum is less than any spacesuit NASA has built. The problem is keeping fluids inside the human body pressurized so your blood doesn't boil; or sweat, or lymph, etc. Applying pressure with an elastic suit does provide the required pressure inside your skin. Dr. Paul Webb tested it on a human test subject in a vacuum chamber the 1960's; it works. The pressure wasn't complete vacuum, but it was very low and the subject stick his arm in a smaller chamber that further reduced the pressure to equal Mars surface. The suit worked and the volunteer was able to operate switches and knobs to prove glove dexterity. Pictures of all this were published in the Journal of Aerospace Medicine, April 1968. Paul Webb and James Annis continued the work and developed an improved version for NASA; that was tested in a vacuum chamber as well. You can't say it doesn't work when it has already been worn by human beings in vacuum. In the 1980's Dr. W. Mitchell Clapp developed a glove using that principle that used higher pressure (mechanical counter pressure) that matched the pressure used in the EMU. It was developed specifically for the EMU, and proven in a glove box pumped down to vacuum. Again, a human being wore it in vacuum (to his hands) so it does work. The dexterity was compared to both Apollo A7L-B gloves and EMU gloves, and the MCP glove proved better. It had greater joint deflection (how far can you bend your finger) and lower force required to bend a finger. Add to this the inherent safety of MCP: if you pierce the suit with a small cut, the astronaut will get a very bad bruise where the suit was cut. With a traditional pressure suit, such a cut would completely depressurize the suit resulting in death. A bruise is much better than death. Why wasn't this glove used to assemble ISS? The answer is two fold: the company that had the contract to develop it for NASA was acquired and the new owner wasn?t interested in the project, and engineers at NASA who work on the traditional pressure suit see MCP as a threat.

MCP has several advantages over a pressure suit. It's much lighter, greater range of joint motion, less force required to move, greater safety, and the cooling system is much simpler. With MCP, you have a fabric you can sweat through. Measurements show the insensible perspiration (sweat sucked out of your skin when you are not hot) only takes away half as much heat as a human generates at rest. That means just floating in zero-G in orbit an astronaut will generate more body heat than he/she looses via insensible perspiration. That means he/she will get worm and start to sweat, that sweat will sublimate in the vacuum of orbit, or evaporate on Mars, cooling the astronaut naturally. The temperature regulation system is the human body. Cooling only requires a bottle of drinking water. An EVA in orbit that lasts 8 hours would require 4 litres of drinking water to prevent dehydration, but not on Mars. Mars is cold and has an atmosphere so the spacesuit will require good thermal insulation (a parka). So an MCP suit is ideal for Mars. After all, an MCP suit is the ?walker? described in the Red/Green/Blue Mars books written by Kim Stanley Robinson.

RobertDyck · 2004-01-05 11:41:47

Gore-Tex, huh? Is that an Al and Dubya collaboration (say it isn't so!)?
--Cindy
P.S.: If I can't have a purple and gold paisley patterned spacesuit, I'm not going... ::sniff::

I have no idea. I don't know who owns Gore-Tex.

I'm sure you could print any pattern you want on your Mars suit. In orbit it is white to reflect sunlight, so it can stay cool, but in the atmosphere of Mars that shouldn't be any more an issue than on Earth.

clark · 2004-01-05 11:45:29

MCP has several advantages over a pressure suit. It?s much lighter, greater range of joint motion, less force required to move, greater safety, and the cooling system is much simpler. With MCP, you have a fabric you can sweat through.

Wouldn't the sweat instantly freeze or boil off as it comes through the fabric?

The principle is an elastic layer that provides the same pressure as a traditional pressure suit, but the space between threads of the fabric is open.

This dosen't sound like it will provide much thermal protection, would it? How do you prevent hypothermia?

Rxke · 2004-01-05 11:56:51

From Wikipedia:

Gore-tex is a proprietary teflonized textile material owned by W.L. Gore & Associates. It has the property that water vapor in the air may pass through its pores, but liquid water may not; commonly said to be 'breathable'.

It is used in a huge variety of applications, from lining walking boots to bags for bagpipes

We use it (photoconservation) in 'sandwiches,' layered goretex and blotting paper, to slowly dry, or sometimes moisten (then the blotters are damp), photographs. Our 'neighbours' paperconservators swear by it, the 'breathing' is much better controllable than just using blotters, wich work too fast in some cases (really old, thus fragile stuff takes sometimes weeks to dry, after wet treatment, if you want to do your drying properly...)

RobertDyck · 2004-01-05 12:11:21

Wouldn't the sweat instantly freeze or boil off as it comes through the fabric?

Yup, sweat would boil off as it reaches skin surface. Body temperature is above freezing in vacuum. The phase change between liquid and gas provides cooling. This is the same effect as evaporating, so it's what sweat is for, but in vacuum the boiling effect will carry more heat away per unit volume of sweat.

This dosen't sound like it will provide much thermal protection, would it? How do you prevent hypothermia?

MCP provides the pressure layer and cooling. You still require a micrometeoroid/thermal protection garment. The Apollo A7L-B suit used woven fibreglass coated in Teflon for the outer layer. EMU uses Kevlar coated in Teflon. On Mars you don't need micrometeoroid protection; Mars has an atmosphere so micrometeoroids can't reach the surface. You need an outer layer to protect from sharp rocks, equipment, etc. A Mars suit must be much more flexible; the requirements match an Alpine mountain climber, so I say we use the same material as an Alpine mountain climber's parka: Gore-Tex.

Both the A7L-B and EMU uses multiple layers of aluminized Mylar for thermal protection. The aluminized Mylar effectively forms a vacuum bottle. This works great in the vacuum of orbit or the Moon, but the atmosphere of Mars means it won't work. Pressure may be just below 7 millibars, or 7 tenths of one percent of Earth, but that's enough for convection. So on Mars use Thinsulate, the same material as ski jackets. The new drapeable aerogel might be lower mass, but is it pliable or would it crush?

Bottom line: the MCP layer provides vacuum protection but you have to wear a parka over that. To ensure cooling via sweat, the outer layer must breathe. The upper and lower body don't have to be sealed, the MCP layer provides that. So the thermal/scuff layer can be a separate parka and ski pants.

clark · 2004-01-05 12:23:47

This is the same effect as evaporating, so it's what sweat is for, but in vacuum the boiling effect will carry more heat away per unit volume of sweat.

Isn't there a danger in this then? Couldn't you conceivably sweat enough to freeze?

You need an outer layer to protect from sharp rocks, equipment, etc. A Mars suit must be much more flexible; the requirements match an Alpine mountain climber, so I say we use the same material as an Alpine mountain climber's parka: Gore-Tex.

I hear so much about carbon nano-tubes and the like, I wonder if some elegant solutions might be found in reinforcing the suit with carbon nano-tube filaments to provide the extra ruggedness. Possible?

Bottom line: the MCP layer provides vacuum protection but you have to wear a parka over that. To ensure cooling via sweat, the outer layer must breathe.

How about an electric blanket plugged into a fuel cell?

Seriously though, why not weave in electrical conduits? into the suit to provide heat (similar to what we have in an electric blanket)?

RobertDyck · 2004-01-05 12:40:26

This is the same effect as evaporating, so it's what sweat is for, but in vacuum the boiling effect will carry more heat away per unit volume of sweat.
Isn't there a danger in this then? Couldn't you conceivably sweat enough to freeze?

When you play a sport outside in winter, do you sweat enough to freeze? If sweat did freeze, it would sublimate, so it would eventually go away and continue to cool the astronaut as it does so. The human body is very well self-regulated.

I hear so much about carbon nano-tubes and the like, I wonder if some elegant solutions might be found in reinforcing the suit with carbon nano-tube filaments to provide the extra ruggedness. Possible?

Carbon nano-tubes are very stiff. It would be less flexable than Kevlar.

How about an electric blanket plugged into a fuel cell?
Seriously though, why not weave in electrical conduits? into the suit to provide heat (similar to what we have in an electric blanket)?

That would take power, and that requires big batteries or a fuel cell with a fuel tank. If it were practical it would be used on Earth. A parka is all you need. After all, the temperature on Mars can get very low, but the thin atmosphere will carry heat away very slowly. Boots, gloves, or anything that contacts the ground or equipment will get cold, but the astronaut's body would probably get warm. Which raises a simple solution to keep suit electronics warm: keep it inside the parka. Let the radio, suit computer, and astroanut's body share heat.

clark · 2004-01-05 12:47:47

When play a sport outside in winter, do you sweat enough to freeze?

Okay, but have you ever stuck your finger into rubbing alcohol and feel it evaporate? Super fast evaporation- isn't that what's happening here? Isn't there a problem with the dissapation of heat since the water/sweat evaporates at the upper portion of the skin but dosen't reduce the overall heat?

Afterall, we don't see marathon runners dousing themselves with rubbing alcohol to cool down. What am I not getting?

Carbon nano-tubes are very stiff. It would be less flexable than Kevlar.

Hmm... I was under the impression that some were already experimenting with what i proposed (making stain resistant clothes and such). Perhaps a chain-mail mesh might be another solution?

RobertDyck · 2004-01-05 12:59:26

When play a sport outside in winter, do you sweat enough to freeze?
Okay, but have you ever stuck your finger into rubbing alcohol and feel it evaporate? Super fast evaporation- isn't that what's happening here? Isn't there a problem with the dissapation of heat since the water/sweat evaporates at the upper portion of the skin but dosen't reduce the overall heat?
Afterall, we don't see marathon runners dousing themselves with rubbing alcohol to cool down. What am I not getting?

Cooling from insensible perspiration will only take away half as much body heat as your body generates at rest. Which means sweat will boil/sublimate away leaving dry skin. Since that doesn't take away enough heat, you will sweat. You will only sweat enough to reduce your body temperature to a comfortable level. True, you don't want to douse yourself in water, rubbing alcohol, or anything else when you're outside. Let your body's sweat take care of it.

Your body has an excellent way of distributing heat. Blood is circulated, so it carries heat around. Capillaries in the skin open or constrict to control body heat. As you get warm you not only sweat, your body also opens the capillaries in your skin surface to carry body heat to that sweat. The skin doesn't just seal your body from microbes; it is a very finely controlled radiator.

Carbon nano-tubes are very stiff. It would be less flexable than Kevlar.
Hmm... I was under the impression that some were already experimenting with what i proposed (making stain resistant clothes and such). Perhaps a chain-mail mesh might be another solution?

Perhaps; there is work being done with carbon nano-tubes. I believe in the KISS principle: Keep It Simple Stupid. Gore-Tex and Simpatex have been proven for cold weather outerwear. My boots have Simpatex. Why use a super material for clothing? It might have a yet-to-be-found problem. My chemist friend bought a parka with microfibre outer layer. The microfibres broke, leaving cracks where the fabric wrinkles. My polyester/cotton parka had a snap break, but the fabric is as good as new. (Ok, it needs cleaning. But the cleaning label faded so it only has a green circle. How do you wash a down-filled parka?)

Ps: It's damn cold here today. The weather prediction said it's -30?C outside, but my vehicle thermometer read -33?C as I drove to work this morning. Long underwear under jeans, winter snowboots, t-shirt and sweater under down parka, cotton toque on my head, isotoner gloves for driving, and fuzz lined suede mits when shovelling my side walk.

clark · 2004-01-05 13:15:54

Robert, thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to explain some of these questions. I can be trying, but I honestly want to understand.

Which means sweat will boil/sublimate away leaving dry skin. Since that doesn't take away enough heat, you will sweat. You will only sweat enough to reduce your body temperature to a comfortable level.

So in effect, we will be unable to NOT stop sweating?! We get hot, then we sweat, but the sweat dosen't take enough heat away, so we continue to sweat, and on and on and on.

So it won't be frost bite of hypothermia that kills us, it will be dehydration.

True, you don't want to douse yourself in water, rubbing alcohol, or anything else when you're outside. Let your body's sweat take care of it.

But then how do we ever cool down? If the sweat dosen't stay long enough to dissiapate the heat, we will continue to sweat, losing liquids. How long can we keep up a continous sweat before dellirium or heat exhaustion kicks in?

As you get warm you not only sweat, your body also opens the capillaries in your skin surface to carry body heat to that sweat. The skin doesn't just seal your body from microbes; it is a very finely controlled radiator.

Okay, but where is the heat from our skin going to escape to? We'll be in a pressure suit, and then a parka.

This is why I have major reservations:

I had some friends who wrestled. It was always about their weight. Have to lose weight for a match. Have to be lean. have to spit into a cup two days prior to lose some extra water weight. So, in a word, they were nuts (okay, maybe dedicated is better, whatever).

Well, long story short, these friends would often times take to extreme measures to lose weight, whcih usually involved putting on a plastic trashbag over their body (holes cut into it to make it like a shirt). Then, they would proceed to don two or three layers of clothing- sometimes even with a parka. These guys would then go running for a half hour to two hours.

To those that don't know, the trashbag has the the effect of trapping in your heat, which causes your sweat/cooling reaction to go into overdrive- you end up sweating more, while your body heat increases. Needless to say, this is very dangerous, and many people get hurt by this behavior (can cause massive strain on your internal organs).

How does the mars suit prevent, or mitigate, the effects of thermal buildup to the point where our natural cooling functions can operate?

RobertDyck · 2004-01-05 13:25:12

So in effect, we will be unable to NOT stop sweating?! We get hot, then we sweat, but the sweat dosen't take enough heat away, so we continue to sweat, and on and on and on.

Your body can increase or decrease the rate at which you sweat. A certain minimum rate is maintained by the vacuum, but it's not dripping, soak your shirt type of sweat. As you get warm your body will sweat more; that will take away more heat. As sweat evaporates/sublimates it absorbs heat from your body. The water vapor carries that heat away with it.

So it won't be frost bite of hypothermia that kills us, it will be dehydration.

In orbit you would have to worry about dehydration if you stayed outside for several hours. An astronaut in orbit wouldn't have to worry if he/she only stayed outside for a couple hours. On Mars, however, the atmosphere will carry more heat away so dehydration won't be an issue. Astronauts may choose to continue to use the EMU for Earth orbit, but an MCP suit is ideal for Mars.

We'll be in a pressure suit, and then a parka.

It's not a pressure suit; it's a mechanical counter pressure suit. The MCP suit is just fabric, think of a skin-tight Olympic athlete's suit. The suit Dr. Webb built in the 1960's used cotton and synthetic rubber, but he envisioned using a then-new material called spandex. There is nothing sealing air against your skin; you just have a tight spandex suit with a parka and ski pants over it. That lets sweat escape. You would have a pressurized helmet with a neoprene air dam at your neck. Dr. Webb also used pressurized boots with neoprene air dams at the ankle. He used gel-filled bags to spread the pressure evenly over the trough of the lumbo-dorsal spine (up your back), and the genitalia. He also used gel bags for the palm and back of the hand, but Mitchell Clapp found that when he increased the pressure from 3.3 to 4.1 psi, he didn't need the gel bags in the gloves. Dr. Webb was concerned about the shoulders and arm pits, but his experiments showed that even at 3.3 psi gel bags weren't necessary.

clark · 2004-01-05 13:41:51

Thank you Robert. I'll have to chew on this some more.

Palomar · 2004-01-05 15:32:41

*A memory just came back. I saw a documentary years ago about the making of the Apollo spacesuits. It's the only time I've seen it (it was a real "behind-the-scenes" type thing), so apologies for my scant memory but: Elderly ladies who were exceptional seamstresses actually sewed the suits together. I don't recall how the patterns were made, etc., and I'm not sure those ladies drew up the patterns themselves and did the actual cutting of the suits from the patterns (although I think they DID do the pattern making and cutting as well...but not 100% sure); but they did operate the machines which sewed at least the most vital inner layers of the spacesuits together (if not all layers). The seams were absolutely tight and straight; the best crafting that could be found and accomplished.

It was really interesting; the youthful male-dominated NASA culture of the 1960s and here are these wonderful, smiling elderly ladies putting the suits together, running the fabrics under heavy-duty sewing machines, checking and testing the seams for strength, etc., etc. It really added an "pioneer flare" to the setting.

I wish I could see that portion of the documentary again. It was great.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-01-05 18:22:57

What an absolutely riveting discussion between Clark and Robert about a subject vital to human Mars exploration!
It was almost perfect; with Clark providing the enquiring foil to Robert's encyclopaedic knowledge of space science detail. Thanks guys!

Robert's comment about the regular pressure-suit manufacturers seeing the MCP as a threat was especially revealing and confirms a suspicion I've been harbouring about that very possibility. Is this another example of NASA bureaucracy and vested interest getting in the way of a common sense solution to a difficult problem?
Even if the answer to that question is 'yes', a definite humans-to-Mars program will cut through all that kind of turf warfare because current pressure suits are simply too heavy for use on a planet with a respectable gravitational field, even a planet with gravity of only 0.38g. While weight isn't a problem in orbit and the suits can be bulky, on Mars we will just have to develop lightweight suits. And, as Robert points out so convincingly, the MCP is ideal for the job.

Wouldn't it be a remarkable feeling to step out onto the martian surface in lightweight comfortable gear, not noticeably more bulky or uncomfortable than the type of clothing you might wear on Earth in a cold winter (except for the helmet, I suppose! )? There may even be times, not far from the equator at around noon in summer, when the parka might be dispensed with for a few hours!
With your body regulating its temperature naturally, using the martian environment in much the same way as we use the terrestrial environment here at home, that would be about as close to 'communing with nature' as we're likely to get on Mars, without all the terraforming we've spoken of.
To my mind, that would really be something!

[P.S. I saw those seamstresses too, Cindy, and I remember feeling the way you did that those ladies, wonderful craftswomen though they were, looked decidedly out of place! As you said, in a world of men in their prime, the contrast presented by these elderly women was something to behold.]

Palomar · 2004-01-05 20:55:14

[P.S. I saw those seamstresses too, Cindy, and I remember feeling the way you did that those ladies, wonderful craftswomen though they were, looked decidedly out of place! As you said, in a world of men in their prime, the contrast presented by these elderly women was something to behold.]

*I'm glad to know someone else here is familiar with this as well.

I picked my brain a bit, trying to come up with a more precise memory, and recalled that segment (the elderly seamstresses) was tied in with the quality and integrity of those suits...especially in conjunction with the Apollo 1 fire which killed White, Grissom, and Chaffee: Absolutely no burns on the bodies, no flame penetration whatsoever; the suits protected against that (though of course they unfortunately died of smoke inhalation while trapped inside...the helmets they wore couldn't keep the poisonous smoke out). ::Edit:: Searched on Google for precise information about that tragedy (not wanting to steer too much off-topic): "The Apollo hatch could only open inward and was held closed by a number of latches which had to be operated by ratchets." Unforgiveable. I can't believe such an obvious death trap design was in use (approved).

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-01-05 21:49:20

*Yeah, I know the focus of this thread is for non-Apollo spacesuits, etc., but I've got my teeth sunk into this now and don't want to create a new thread (besides, I did include a link about NASA's plans for future spacesuits -and- the final link includes Mars considerations):

Did a bit more Googling (Apollo spacesuits). I found a book by Nicholas de Monchaux entitled _Space Suit_ (amazon.com). Current price is $19.25. Here's the synopsis and other info:

"Synopsis
The space suit worn by the astronauts who walked on the moon was a marvel of engineering and design. Seen in photographs from the lunar surface, with its brilliant white fabric and sparkling golden visor, it is an icon of technological daring and prowess. Yet unlike other high-tech artifacts - the products of mechanized, standardized, and centralized mass-production processes - **each Apollo space suit was hand-made** and custom-fitted to its wearer, and its components were fabricated in small workshops spread far and wide. Author Nicholas de Monchaux describes how those responsible for designing and building the suit were not just engineers and scientists, --->but seamstresses using needle and thread and pots of glue, <--- and how hundreds of vendors worked, often in competition with one another, in a uniquely flexible, even improvisational, structure that yielded spectacular results in record time. The history of the space suit, de Monchaux argues, reveals how the exigencies of the Space Race created a valuable model for innovative high-technology design and manufacturing.

Book Description
The rapid design, development, and production of an effective space suit was one of the most significant challenges of the Space Race and the Cold War. Author de Monchaux tells the gripping story."

---

The link below mentions (very briefly) the lady seamstresses who worked for ILC Dover "the sole contractor for all United States spacesuits since the first Apollo mission." Also mentions suits on Mars, in the context of: "The current suit would be useless in the extreme conditions of Mars":

http://www.odysseytelevision.com/live....it.html

---

"NASA Plans Future Spacesuit for Planetary Missions" (1999 article from Space.com):

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology … 91110.html

---

Interesting, includes Mars (...might provoke some conversation....):

http://groups.msn.com/DaveDietzler/drygoods.msnw

---

I did find another link regarding NASA seamstresses which supposedly related to the Apollo era (I was hoping for a picture or two), but it deals with Skylab and matters from years 1973 to 1979. That link is tied in with "NASA history."

I wish they'd include photos and more info on the Apollo-era seamstresses.

--Cindy

Rxke · 2004-01-31 14:15:53

The Rocket Company, an on-going scientifically sound novel, has a whole chapter (well, some pages...) dedicated to [http://www.hobbyspace.com/AAdmin/archiv … page1.html]suits and cheap toilets

it's about a 'hard' suit, though, not to be used on Mars etc, but still an interesting read, because there's a lot of history in it.

one citation: "...But, as information about the Russian space program came out in the 1980s, especially during the American experience on Mir, it became apparent that manned space systems could be awfully unsophisticated and still work..."

SpaceNut · 2005-07-25 18:08:37

Local Company Suits up for Space Travel Business designing special suit to aid in Mars mission

Astronauts exploring space and walking on the moon have all worn gear designed and produced by the workers at Air-Lock Inc.
Now the engineers and machinists inhabiting the little factory that looks like a series of old Army barracks off Milford's Gulf Street are developing a new suit to clothe the first Mars exploration teams.

NASA throws down the gauntlet to glove designers

NASA is looking for next-generation spacewalk gloves, and announced its new design competition on Friday.
The space agency will award $250,000 to the team that designs and creates the best glove – challengers will go glove-to-glove in a competition in November 2006.

Commodore · 2005-07-25 19:25:22

http://www.newscientistspace.com/articl … .html]NASA throws down the gauntlet to glove designers

I saw this, and said "Dear God tell he made that head line up".

No such luck.

SpaceNut · 2005-08-16 19:25:59

An outfit suitable for Mars Slimmer space suits on the wrack for astronauts

The gas-pressurized space suits used by astronauts for space walks and moon landings would never work on Mars. That's the consensus, at least among astrobiologists and simulation experts at the Eighth International Mars Society Convention, which took place 11-14 August in Boulder, Colorado.

The Mechanical Counter Pressure (MCP) suit image

aims to use elasticity to provide pressure instead. Paul Webb, a physician from Yellow Springs, Ohio originally proposed this idea in 1968, as a safer and more flexible alternative to the bulky Apollo mission suits. His idea didn't take flight until recently, however, when the US space programme began casting an eye towards the red planet.

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