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First All-Female Spacewalk Canceled Because NASA Doesn't Have Two Suits That Fit (npr.org)
The first all-female spacewalk scheduled for Friday has been cancelled by NASA (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) because they don't have two spacesuits that fit the female astronauts. According to The New York Times, Anne C. McClain and Christina H. Koch both need to wear a medium-size torso component, but only one is readily available at the International Space Station. From the report: The mission itself is unchanged. On Friday, two astronauts will venture outside of the space station on a six-hour mission to install massive lithium-ion batteries that will help to power the research laboratory. Ms. Koch is still scheduled to participate, along with her fellow astronaut Nick Hague; Ms. McClain did her first spacewalk last week. But the first women-only venture outside of the confines of the space station will have to happen on another day. "After consulting with McClain and Hague following the first spacewalk, mission managers decided to adjust the assignments, due in part to spacesuit availability on the station," NASA said in a statement.
Stephanie Schierholz, a spokeswoman for NASA, said in an interview on Monday that there were already two medium-size hard upper torsos -- "essentially the shirt of the spacesuit," according to NASA -- at the space station. But there were a couple of issues. One was that Ms. McClain had thought she would be able to work in a large-size torso, but after her spacewalk last Friday, she wore a medium-size torso and learned that it fit her better. Ms. Koch also uses the same size. And of the two medium-size torsos available, one has yet to be properly configured for a spacewalk. It would take hours of crew labor -- not to mention some additional risk -- to fix that in time for Friday. Instead of doing that, NASA decided to simply switch out the astronauts. In the end, both women will have done a spacewalk -- just not together.
Stephanie Schierholz, a spokeswoman for NASA, said in an interview on Monday that there were already two medium-size hard upper torsos -- "essentially the shirt of the spacesuit," according to NASA -- at the space station. But there were a couple of issues. One was that Ms. McClain had thought she would be able to work in a large-size torso, but after her spacewalk last Friday, she wore a medium-size torso and learned that it fit her better. Ms. Koch also uses the same size. And of the two medium-size torsos available, one has yet to be properly configured for a spacewalk. It would take hours of crew labor -- not to mention some additional risk -- to fix that in time for Friday. Instead of doing that, NASA decided to simply switch out the astronauts. In the end, both women will have done a spacewalk -- just not together.
They have a second medium torso on the ISS, it would just take 12 hours to bring it up to usable spec for use in this space walk.
They elected to instead switch to another astronaut who fitted one of the other, already usable torso units.
This whole thing came about because the astronaut in question was fitted for the large torso, but on orbit determined that the medium torso was a better fit during an earlier spacewalk, and as such NASA errs on the side of caution as the fit contributes significantly to performance.
There are redundant suits of each size but the secondary medium suit would need to be configured and loaded for the specific spacewalk. They are around 40 years old and you need to be sure everything works correctly before putting it on and going into vacuum - that takes time.
These are EVA suits and are not the same as flight suits and likely would not be used in an emergency since they are difficult to put on and require assistance to do so.
Enigma
Astronauts change size in orbit. McClain has mentioned that she's grown by about two inches.
NASA has a *very* detailed fitting procedure for spacesuits, but final fit choice is made by the astronaut herself.
You are probably thinking about Professor Dava Newman's BioSuit: https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/61704...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
That's the basic design, yes. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle referred to them as "skintights" in their fiction. Their asteroid miners typically wore the suits 24x7 in their very small space craft. The idea was researched at as far back as the 1950's, shortly after the invention of the modern wet suit, and tested for the Mercury program, and has some verifiable research from the 1970's as well. The ideas are not new: materials and manufacture with those new materials have improved.