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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!
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!
Ask the crew of Soyuz 11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11. Oops, scratch that!
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!
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.
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).