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Creating Budget Space Suits For the Private Space Industry
Zothecula writes "Although the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was unmanned during its recent first flight to the International Space Station, the success of that mission marked a huge step toward future crewed commercial space flights. SpaceX, of course, isn't the only player in this newly-forming industry – companies such as Virgin Galactic, Boeing, and Blue Origin are also hoping to take paying customers on rocket rides. However, while a lot of attention has been paid to the spacecraft themselves, one has to wonder what those private-sector astronauts will be wearing. Expensive NASA space suits, perhaps? Not if Ted Southern and Nikolay Moiseev have anything to say about it."
My PC cost are mere $500 and is still going strong 10 years later. I could have spent twice as much on a non-generic brand, but would not have gotten anymore out of it. (Same principle applies to my 25 year old Dodge versus a Chrysler, or my 15 year old Honda versus an Acura. Spending less doesn't automatically mean less lifespan/reliability.)
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
(whoosh). The point I was making with my PC v. Apple and Honda v. Acura and Dodge v. Chrysler comparison was this: A spacesuit can be made for half the cost of a Nasa suit, and yet still be JUST as reliable.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
Actually, a good vacuum seal may not be all that important. Skin cells are tough. A skin-tight fine mesh suit would apparently be good enough. An astronaut could look like a downhill skier or speed skater.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Space suits are bulky and annoying. All they protect you against is loss of pressure; they can't provide any protection worth mentioning against impact or fire. So what exactly is the point?
Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
My PC cost are mere $500 and is still going strong 10 years later.
For a second there, I thought this was another MyCleanPC post.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Yeah; the issue isn't the vacuum; the issue is protection against radiation and orifice protection (mostly eyes, nose and mouth).
These guys have been building space suits for NASA / ESA / Roscomos for years. It seems like they're taking that knowledge and like just improving things - making them simpler, more standardized. Not Nike level. They will likely still be hand made for some time.
Moiseev has worked as a space suit engineer for over 20 years, developing suits for groups such as NASA, the European Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency. Southern’s background lies in the area of special effects and costumes for theater, movies and television. Together, they designed a glove for use in outer space, which placed second in the 2009 NASA Astronaut Glove Challenge. They went on to work as technical residents at New York’s Eyebeam art and technology center, and were awarded a NASA contract last year, to continue development of their pressurized glove.
Seems like progress as promised...
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
The article addresses this. The suit is not intended to be worn outside of the vehicle. It will be worn in case there is a loss of pressure or life support. The vehicle is what will provide the necessary "or best possible" shielding from radiation.
I take it you didn't read the article? It is Intended to be worn inside the ship in case there is a loss of pressure or life support... The ship provides whatever radiation shielding is possible, which still isn't much.
At least if the crew had stayed on the ISS (however uncomfortable that may have been for a few days/weeks) and jettisoned the demonstrably useless and hazardous shuttle to burn up on its own (it has a remote control so it would have been no problem to bring it in for a burn/splashdown in the middle of the Pacific), then a rescue/recovery mission for the crew would have just been a matter of warming up the VAB and strapping one of the other orbiters to an ET...
I'm not sure how the crew would have "stayed" at the ISS given they were never there in the first place and had no way to get there. Once that piece of foam hit the wing the crew was doomed. They may have been able to discover they were doomed if the Air Force had come through on imaging that was requested, but the scenarios under which the damage is repaired or the crew survives in orbit until rescue are fanciful.
Lets face it, if the shit hits the fan, you are probably dead, space suit or not.
Be seeing you...
But protecting against 0 atmosphere just isn't that big of a technological problem. As long as they're not using it for spacewalks, it should be able to be made very cheaply. I think a spacesuit for a spaceship's interior would need to be nothing more than a glorified ziplock bag with a way to allow the user to respire without suffocating. If the puzzle was making suit to protect a man at the bottom of the deepest ocean... that is a challenge.
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I take it noone explained to you that that's their primary purpose?
If so, the "explanation" would be seriously wrong. Seriously, don't you realize how dumb that claim is?
Any space suit has to keep you alive in hard vacuum and subject to the many extremes of space that can kill you within seconds or minutes. As a result that's their primary purpose. Only space suits that are worn for long periods of time need protect you from radiation. And you can also bring a radiation shield along, if you don't have a well-shielded suit.
Cheap as in dirt-cheap isn't the way to go when you have space tourists willing to blow a normal person's annual salary on a joyride. It would be better to design as suit that looks good, while functioning well. I'm think along the lines of Dava Newman's prototype Bio-Suit, a sleek looking design that doesn't make the presumably fit space traveller looking like the Teletubbies or the Pillsbury Dough boy.
The Bio-Suit is sleek because it is supposed to work on "mechanical counter-pressure" rather than through simple air pressure. That's the theory anyway. Here's hoping she and her team work out the kinks.
Refurbished means that it was returned but passed the tests. Manufacturers don't fix anything broken anymore.
Can anybody explain to me why people insist on building pressurized space suits? Working in them seems to be pure pain (say goodbye to your fingernails). Unpressurized suits have successfully been tested as early as 1969 (www.elasticspacesuit.com).
you've watched too many cheesy sci-fi movies. The human body can take 0 mm Hg pressure just fine, you have a thing called "blood pressure" inside you, your blood will not boil. Moreover, you can research yourself what the biggest issue will be, noted scientist's exact words "expect to fart a lot"