Suiting Up for EVA
Yesterday, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) completed one of three space walk missions outside the vehicle to perform assembly work. In nearly 8 hours, 2 members of the expedition 14 ISS crew were able to connect tubes of ammonia to their permanent location where they will cool the station. A test for potentially dangerous frozen ammonia flakes, such as those nearly brought back in on the space suites in 2001, turned up negative. The Expedition-14 crew is performing more space walks independent of support vehicle assistance than ever before. A second mission to finish the job will take place on February 4th.
The Constellation Program will be sending Orion astronauts into plenty of situations outside the vehicle. For this, they will need new spacesuits, which are part of NASA’s larger Constellation EVA Systems Project. The (http://microgravity.grc.nasa.gov/Exploration/Constellation/Level2/) Glenn Research Center is working on many components of the new suits along with Johnson Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., universities, private sector aerospace companies and international partners.
In a mid-2006 Industry Day for what is officially known as Constellation Space Suit Systems (CSSS), private-sector companies were briefed on the what the program is looking for in a suit in all stages of manufacture. It was recommended to the engineers focus on designs that could have modules added and replaced over time to increase functionality in an effort to help Constellation stay on budget within the proposed timetable, at least until the 2020s.
Eventually the new spacesuits will provide all the environment one person needs for up to 120 hours of moderate physical activity at a time. Project EVA suit parameters require new designs to be regularly usable for at least a 6-month mission on the moon and stand up to conditions on Mars for an unspecified length of time.
The suits currently used on the ISS are big, bulky and require a lot of prep work before use. The new suits will certainly weigh less than the current 300 lb. (136 kg) design. Other likely new systems may include in-mask displays, full-duplex data and voice transmission with the ship and ground control, as well as fast charging power systems. Presumably the new suits will also allow greater dexterity. Allowing astronauts to conduct construction or science missions greater flexibility will also help them get a lot more done with each and every EVA. Designs should be finalized before the first manned Orion launches planned for 2014.
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Space Agency News, The Gear to Get There. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
