Space suit
The space suit is a gas-tight protective suit for astronauts, the vital functions (especially breathing ) ensures its wearer in the vacuum of space by putting yourself under pressure. A device attached to the suit or built into the suit oxygen device removes the carbon dioxide exhaled by the carrier and replaces it with oxygen.
Areas of application
In the space suits the following areas can be distinguished:
- Rescue Suits: They are worn by the crew just inside the spacecraft during dangerous maneuvers such as during startup, the coupling and the landing of the spacecraft to ensure the oxygen supply in case of failure of the pressure cabin of the vehicle. So you protect the crew for a short time. From an altitude of 12,000 m 100 % oxygen with positive pressure must be inhaled to achieve a sufficiently high partial pressure to achieve an oxygen saturation of the blood. Even pilots flying very high (military) aircraft (such as the Lockheed U -2 or Lockheed SR- 71) and stratosphere Springer wear space suits. Examples are the Russian Sokol suit occupants of the Soyuz spacecraft and the orange ACES space suit for space shuttle crews.
- Space suits for out- board activities (English Extra - vehicular activity, EVAs ). When working in the space outside of the spacecraft or space station usually spacesuits with mobile oxygen supply to be worn on the wearer's back. You must have special insulating functions, protection layers against micrometeorites and an air conditioning system to support the body temperature. Such suits are designated as at NASA Extravehicular Mobility Units ( EMUs ). In addition to the U.S. EMU (which can be used from the ISS ) include the Russian Orlan suits the family in this group. A common Russian name for a space suit is Skaphander.
Flight suit
Not to be confused is the space suit with the flight suit, a durable, made of fire resistant fabric coverall. This is supported by astronauts during training at official occasions and often at work on board the spacecraft, but also of aerobatic pilots, the crews of military aircraft or during test flights ( for example, parabolic flights ).
Structure of a space suit
Each space suit consists of numerous layers of different textiles, plastics, and often metals. In the innermost layer tubes are inserted, is pumped through the cold water, so that the spaceman does not overheat in his suit. Above that is a layer of neoprene, which is a gas-tight, but flexible, and so can hold the pressure. Thus, the suit in a vacuum not overly inflates and makes the spaceman immobile, the pressure in the suit compared to the Earth's atmosphere is lowered as far as physiologically possible. In addition, the neoprene layer is surrounded by a further strong textile layer. The outer layers consist of suit -resistant fire retardant aramid fibers. Spacesuits for extravehicular activities are also coated on the outside with aluminum or other materials to reflect solar radiation. These two outer layers protect the wearer even before micrometeorites and radiation.
The head of the space traveler is in a nearly spherical helmet, which is provided a gas-tight connected to the space suit and with a hinged visor against the aggressive UV radiation of the sun ( the spaceman is beyond the ozone layer ). Most in the trunk area, the connections are for oxygen, air, cooling water and communication systems.
History
1930
The modern space suits have their origins were developed in the pressure suits, as in the 1930s for deep sea diving (diving suit) and test pilots very high-flying military aircraft. However, these original suits had one big disadvantage: You could practically do not move in them - either they were from the outset too stiff or bulky, or they were there at the latest when the pressure was built up from the inside. It crystallized rapidly out two basic forms: some were "soft" suits, which provided a degree of flexibility, but granted complete protection. The 'hard' suits (as they have already been proposed in 1928 by Herman Potočnik ) but were against it, although safer, but extremely powerful. Most test pilots, who advanced to great heights, used soft suits. For the later spaceman you looking for a more balanced solution. Today, they use hard suits with greater flexibility. The evolution of the space suit can be traced in the following steps: 1931 was developed by the Russian Yevgeny Chertowski a pressure suit impractical in Saint Petersburg. 1933 survived the American Mark Ridge in one of the British engineers John Scott Haldane and Sir Robert H. Davis ( by Siebe Gorman & Co. Ltd. in London) developed suit in a simulation chamber has an atmospheric pressure of 27,500 meters. 1934 developed the American pilot Wiley Post and the designer Russell Colley of the Goodrich Company a suit that resembled a deep-sea diver. One of these early models ripped however; another must be cut open to release the support. 1935 reached post then with an improved model for the first time a height of 15 kilometers. In the same year, which specializes in diving suits German company Dräger a suit of silk and silk cord with rubber occupied ago. However, pressured the suit ballooned such that the eye window was pushed to the front of the pilot. A French development from the same year consisted of linen, silk and rubber gloves and pointed to with spring tension so that the pilot could flip a lever chest through which the internal pressure of the suit was settled. In the late 1930s, the first hard suit appeared. However, this Italian producer turned out to be too bulky and heavy, so that the pilots after they had been forced into the back of the suit, had to be carried to the aircraft.
1940s
In 1940, a British rubberized suit best with a fitted thigh oxygen cylinder and adjustable Beinverschnürung to roughly 10,000 feet elevation. In the same year, the first U.S. space suit was given by the Army Aviation in order. He weighed about 35 kilograms and was completely rigid at 200 hPa; these were less than the required 35 hPa in space life support pressure. In 1942, the Army tested including a suit model called XH -1. However, it had a number of disadvantages, such as poor ventilation properties and bulkiness when it was under pressure. A the same time by Dräger more advanced hard Suit, reminiscent of a medieval knight's armor, though was more flexible than most and could withstand a high internal pressure, but how many other hard suits he was too heavy. 1943 inspired a caterpillar the inventor Russell Colley to a design with segment-like ribbed arm and leg parts that allowed the wearer to lift his limbs and move. Together with his cheese bell-like plastic helmet he became the model of many spacesuits in the science-fiction literature and SF films of the 1950s and early 1960s.
1950s and 1960s
In the early 1950s, the David Clark Company developed - since 1939 manufacturer of pressure suits, but also a producer of bras - a suit made of nylon fabric with waffle structure. In 1960 a pressure suit was introduced in the Soviet Union to the world, which resembled that of the downed over the Urals and then captured U-2 pilot Gary Powers astounding. 1962 presented the British a very lightweight suit, however, the disabled and the view was quite rigid. He pointed to a rear zipper entry, as the later Apollo Program space suits.
The crews of the first spacecraft Vostok and Mercury wore spacesuits in the event of escape of breath air from the space ship. The Mercury space suits were provided with a vapor deposited outer layer of aluminum to reflect solar heat radiation, composed of nylon and rubber, weighed only nine kilograms and also had the best ventilation properties. They had been previously tested on the flights of the X-15 rocket plane.
For the first spacewalks mid-1960s, these suits were developed. These were so-called experiment Alan trains. Of 1964, Litton Industries for NASA prototype of a hard suit with elbow joints, screw caps and without zipper ago. However, soft suits were used for the missions of the Apollo program, which offered more flexibility. In 1965, the David Clark Company for the Gemini program with its planned spacewalks a special spacesuit ago who owned a gold -coated non-glare visor and also kept the exhaled air from the nose and mouth. Had to be completely re-designed the spacesuits for the Apollo program, in which space travelers should move on the lunar surface.
1970s to today
The Soviet cosmonauts on missions to the Salyut space station in the 1970s and 1980s contributed during takeoff, landing and recoupling soft spacesuits, while the suits used for spacewalks were hard suits with rear entry. The U.S. Space Shuttle astronauts used from the 1980s Space Shuttle contributed hybrid models in which hard and soft materials were combined. Suits of this type provide security and mobility. Today's U.S. EMUs are in principle but further developments of the Apollo space suits, but with a reinforcement of fiberglass - reinforced plastic in the trunk area.
For the summer and fall of 2012 performed jumps from Felix Baumgartner on 39 km altitude in the project Red Bull Stratos was a short-term space suit for 0.24 bar internal pressure to the case with more than the speed of sound - in a thin -68 ° C cold atmosphere - developed.
Accidents
Because of the task and use of a space suit - especially with regard to the activities of the outboard support - is a space suit with a portable spaceship comparable. Unlike the spacecraft such as the space capsules used in the Apollo program, it previously was at work with the space suit to any disaster. However, there had been almost a disaster during the flight of Voskhod 2 in 1965. At that time, the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov had taken the first spacewalk for a few minutes. When he wanted to go back through the exit gate back into the spaceship, his suit had so stiffened by the internal pressure that he no longer had sufficient freedom of movement to enter into the narrow gate. Leonov oxygen supply was sufficient only for an hour, and he threatened to suffocate slowly. The only alternative was to let off some air out of the suit and to make him this way smoother. However, it was the risk of triggering a decompression sickness. Leonov dropped the suit pressure to almost a quarter of normal atmospheric pressure, successfully entered and could again increase the pressure suit before the decompression sickness could use.
On August 15, 2007, being the eighth day of flying the STS -118 mission to the International Space Station, a spacewalk to extend the ISS was terminated early. Mission Specialist Mastracchio had to go back into the airlock due to a crack in the upper layer of his glove.
On July 16, 2013, came as part of the ISS Expedition 36 during the spacewalk, EVA - 23 to a serious incident involving a U.S. space suit ( EMU ). 44 minutes after his departure announced the ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano the ingress of water in his helmet. First, a leak was suspected in his drinking water bag. As Parmitano had emptied it and the amount of water in the helmet continued to increase, the mission was aborted immediately. When returning to the airlock came large amounts of water into the helmet and disabled Parmitanos view, breathing and speaking. Finally, it is estimated that 1.5 liters of water were in the suit, which consisted of drowning for the astronaut. The cause of the leak to a clogged pump turned out in the system to control the temperature of the space suit, whereby water from the cooling circuit came into the breathing air. In an article published on February 27, 2014 research report NASA was acknowledged that the water problem was known indeed, but was underestimated.
Future
For later missions toward the Moon or Mars, the space suits used today are hardly suitable because of their high mass and their poor mobility in the inflated state. Were originally ( for example by professionals NASA ) proposed here suits that are similar in structure armor and an armored diving suit made of stiff, break-resistant plastic parts with joints in between. However, for reasons of weight and flexibility, this solution is not optimal.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is an alternative design called Bio Suit in development: a skin-tight strained elastic body suit made of latex with embedded nano plastic sheets to protect against micrometeorites and solar radiation, which prevents the body of the wearer to the expansion. Only the helmet is set as usual under pressure.