Questions tagged [spacesuits]
Questions regarding the spacesuits that astronauts wear whilst in space
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Specifications on ISS EVA suit cameras
The suits that astronauts use to preform EVA's on the ISS have some sort of "TV camera" with which they stream analog video back to the ISS and then back to Earth so that we can see it on ...
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Why did the Apollo lunar suits have two visors?
Why did the A7L and A7LB moonsuits have two visors? The astronaut initially had both visors down on his helmet and later during the lunar EVA put the outermost visor up (a yellowish one) and could ...
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A Parmitano ‘maneuver’
Referring to the 2013 incident when Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano suffered a leak in his EVA suit causing water to build up dangerously around his face. By the time he was approaching the airlock, ...
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Plans for HUD in next-generation spacesuits
A HUD (Head Up Display) allows a computer to display information directly into a user's line of sight and thus allows them to interface with that computer without needing to look at a tablet or ...
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Could a spacesuit similar to the suit of Felix Baumgartner be used on the Moon and Mars?
Felix Baumgartner, who jumped from the upper stratosphere in the Red Bull Stratos project, wore a pressurized suit in which he could obviously do better than Apollo's astronauts in their A7L and A7LB ...
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Can the Valsalva maneuver or nose-scratching be done inside a SpaceX suit helmet?
Sometimes you gotta scratch your nose. Or you need to perform the Valsalva maneuver (close your nose and mouth, then blow hard) to help make your ears "pop". If you can flip your helmet ...
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How many current or near-future pressure suits are there for use in space in total?
There are some pressure suits primarily for use inside spacecraft and some for use during EVAs. Currently how many pressure suits are used or will be used in the near future; let's say from 5 year ...
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Can an astronaut have a private communication during a spacewalk?
In this NASA page it describes an astronaut remaining in contact during an EVA.
While inside these pressurized suits, it's essential that they (the astronauts) remain in constant communication ...
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Why do the SpaceX suits require "drying" during the mission?
In the period when the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission was initially docking with the ISS, before the hatches were open, one of the tasks was to "dry the suits". They reported on the status later, ...
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Are SpaceX new space suits inferior to existing ones in terms of usability?
There is an article in Russian "Why do the American space suits look so different from Russian ones?" which claims that the new SpaceX suits are designed for looks, and have several issues, which, ...
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What sounds do astronauts hear inside their helmets during an EVA?
Besides the communications over the headsets, do astronauts hear any other sounds inside their helmets? Do they hear their own breath? Are there any mechanical sounds audible? Does the circulating ...
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Do launch suits have markings that can distinguish between crew members?
We've had two questions about the red stripes on extravehicular suits, used to distinguish between the suited astronauts. Usually the more experienced or higher-ranking astronaut wears the stripes. ...
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How does an ACES suit seal at the feet?
The Advanced Crew Escape Suit -- also known as the ACES suit or "pumpkin suit" -- was worn by all Shuttle astronauts (since 1998) during launch and landing.
The helmet and gloves were connected to ...
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Do any spacesuit designs (including prototypes, conceptual, etc) use radiators rather than open-loop cooling?
Answers to: How have space suits dissipated the heat removed from astronauts? explain how USA suits currently use open-loop cooling.
Typically, space suits must dissipate several hundred watts of heat ...
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Did the LiOH cartridges for the Space Shuttle cabin and spacesuit share the same shape?
In this answer, I explain how there were two contractors that made the environmental control systems and their lithium hydroxide cartridges during the Apollo program. Garrett AiResearch made the ECS ...
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What are beta cloth and beta marquisette, materials used in Apollo-era space suits?
The NASA PDF Space Suit which contains CSM21 Spacesuits pp 223-228 in the url name mentions beta cloth and beta marquisette several times.
Question: What are they ...
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Would potential astronauts on Titan be in danger of being blown away?
Titan (the largest moon of Saturn) has a thicker and denser atmosphere than the Earth and a surface gravity of less than 1/7 that of the Earth. So potential visitors would be very light and what would ...
user35272
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How many spacesuits were specifically manufactured for John Young?
John W. Young was a legendary astronaut:
The first American in space after the original Mercury Seven, as Gus Grissom's co-pilot in Gemini 3. He got in trouble during this flight for smuggling ...
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Did they manufacture six space suits for Apollo astronaut James A. Lovell?
An Apollo astronaut got three space suits, one for training on Earth, one for flight and one as backup.
James A. Lovell did fly on Apollo 8 as Command Module pilot and on Apollo 13 as Mission ...
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Why did the hose connectors on Apollo spacesuits come in pairs?
Apollo lunar spacesuits had four hose connectors for air:
The EV PGA, however, is provided with two sets: two [blue] inlet connectors interconnected by a plenum chamber and two [red] outlet ...
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Why aren't the hose connectors on Sokol suits color-coded?
The Sokol suit used for launch and reentry appears to have three hose ports, which all appear to be an anodized blue color. Why aren't the hose connectors color coded?
In contrast, the Apollo suits ...
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What spacesuits did the Apollo astronauts wear on Earth in their training for the Moon?
Even on the Moon the Apollo spacesuits were so heavy and bulky that the Apollo astronauts couldn't move quite well in them, except in the Apollo 15-17 missions where they were improved. However on ...
user35272
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Nose-scratching Velcro in spacesuits: hook side or loop side?
This answer states
One of the more innovative uses of Velcro included putting a patch into EVA suits to assist in scratching the astronaut's nose.
Considering that Velcro has two different ...
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In layman's terms, how hot will the skin of a spacecraft become, 144 million miles from the Sun?
Ok, last week I asked how hot would a piece of metal become at a distance from Earth to Mars facing the Sun. Thank you for all the nice replies, but I do not have much math knowledge. So let me ...
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Can astronauts in currently planned pressure suits survive a cabin which cannot be repressurized?
Imagine the Crew Dragon (or Stariner or Orion) has just achieved orbit. Due to a manufacturing flaw or a meteor, the window suddenly blows out. All 6 of the crew manages to get their suit visor's ...
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IVA space Suit leakage
What is the allowed suit leakage for Sokol suit at
40kPa/5.8 psi.
What is the allowed leak rate in IVA shuttle suits
at 24 kPa/3.5 psi.
What is the allowed leak rate from IVA suit
helmet
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How much of a drag is it, orbiting the Earth in a space suit?
An astronaut in a spacesuit travels around the Earth at the same altitude as the ISS. Let's say the astronaut leads the ISS by 1000 meters along the same orbit.
After one orbit, how much velocity has ...
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How will space suit computers likely be radiation hardened?
Writing this comment inspired the following question:
Space suits are critical to life, so if there's a solar storm and the astronaut has received a less-than-lethal dose of radiation, they'll be ...
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Are there other "glow in the dark" Luminex wire and light-emitting patch designs for the Z-2 or any other space suit?
The prototype Z-2 space suit has different light-emitting patches to make it easier to identify specific crew members during a spacewalk. NASA has released these three designs.
image source
image ...
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Why did NASA want the Z-2 prototype spacesuit need to mimic the appearance of sportswear?
NASA has been considering a new type of space suit, the Z2 Spacesuit, "in order to protect NASA astronauts embarking on a new class of mission, NASA has to build a new class of space suit. Far off ...
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How hot was the surface of RTG radiator which powered ALSEP on Apollo-12?
The last 5 Apollo missions that landed on the moon (starting from Apollo-12) deployed Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) which was powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG)
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Why do spacesuits have air in the body? [duplicate]
Wouldn’t it be easier to make a space suit that only maintains air around the head, and just has a “tight” insulated and shielded suit around the body?
It seems to me the reasons we need a space ...
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Short documentary about spacesuit seamstresses
I'm trying to find a short documentary video about people who sew together NASA spacesuits.
I saw it quite some time ago -- at least 20 years, maybe longer. Quite possibly on PBS, maybe the Spokane ...
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Design considerations for a space suit going to Mars?
Essentially, I am trying to design a heat exchanger for a space suit traveling to mars. From my understanding, I assumed that the energy generated from the space suit relates to the astronaut as well ...
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Reentry without pressure suits in Apollo: was there a formal risk assesment?
In Apollo 11 Flight Journal the following is stated:
The crew will make re-entry without suits or helmets on. Although this was a controversial decision on the first Apollo flight, Apollo 7, when the ...
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How often did Apollo astronauts wear red helmets?
Images of NAsA astronaut David R. Scott performing a spacewalk during Apollo 9 show a red helmet.
When did NASA's use of red-colored helmets begin, and when did it end, and was there a special name ...
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Are the EVA suits used in the ISS and in the NBL same or different?
Are the space suits used in the International Space Station (ISS) and in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) same or different? They look similar, but they are used in two different media - one in a vacuum ...
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Can we create a vacuum inside an EVA suit when the outside is pressurized, will it implode?
EVA suits are specially designed spacecrafts for astronauts during spacewalks. I can say for sure, it can handle the following cases of pressurization of the system:
Pressurized inside, but vacuum ...
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Best (or least worst) conditions to "store" an astronaut in a suit for six days?
@GremlinWrangler's answer to How can an Astronaut survive for six days inside a Spacesuit? includes the following:
make sure the suit can provide air and water, and adjust the temperature to ...
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How can an Astronaut survive for six days inside a Spacesuit?
In the video #AskNASA | What are the Next Generation Spacesuits?, spacesuit engineer Dustin Gohmert says the following about the Orion Crew Survival Suit (Orange Spacesuit):
This suit is also ...
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How are xEMU's rotating joint at waist level shock proof?
Following this question about new spacesuits (xEMU),
I was wondering how resistant to shock might be the biggest rotating seal, (at waist level) considering an astronaut might fall or be hit by some ...
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Are ferrofluidic seals used in spaceflight? Main applications? Human-rated?
Comments below this answer have inspired this quesiton.
Wikipedia's Ferrofluidic seal sez:
Ferrofluid-sealed feedthroughs routinely operate in environments including ultra-high vacuum (below 10⁻⁸ ...
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How are Rotating Joints in a Spacesuit Gas-tight?
In Spacesuits, especially in newer ones like the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), there are a large number of rotating joints at different portions like wrists, arms, torso, etc.
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What are the Advantages of having a Double-pane Space Helmet?
In the following image of Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) or Artemis Generation Space Suit, it can be seen the helmet contains double-pane of glass (inside the black rectangle)
What ...
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instead of pressurizing an entire spacesuit with oxygen could oxygen just pressurize the head and the rest of the body be pressurized with water?
Instead the body would be kept from boiling by a thin layer of water that was held down by oxygen up at the head. 1 gallon of water is 8lbs which per inch is what the latest spacesuit is designed to ...
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What are these objects near the Cosmonaut's faces?
The obituary "Aleksei Leonov, First Man to Walk in Space, Dies at 85", includes this photo:
What are the white objects alongside each of the cosmonaut's mouths? Are they microphones? If so, why two? ...
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International Orange?
Was the Launch Entry Suit, the pumpkin suit, the first time any space agency used the color International Orange in anything intended to go into space?
From International orange; Astronautics:
The ...
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How do EVA suits manage water excretion?
This answer immediately sparked the question in my mind of how space suits manage water excretion from the person wearing them. I am aware that the astronauts had to wear diapers since one may need to ...
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Who put their spacesuit boots on the wrong feet?
Was just reading Mike Massimino's memoir Spaceman and came across this fascinating line:
Another time a spacewalker - and this is a true story - accidentally
put his right boot on his left foot ...
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Was any hole in the upper layers of the Apollo suits found caused by a micrometeorite impact?
What about the micrometeorite protection layers of the Apollo suits used for lunar EVA? Was any hole found after landing on Earth?
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