the nasa space suit

[Music] since the dawn of time man has been looking up to the heavens he has always wanted to fly or be in space but space is hostile and deadly to man because it lacks the atmospheric pressure oxygen and temperature to sustain life a way was needed to conquer space and survive while working and exploring in this harsh environment in short protection was needed from the environment of space a space suit for many people the space suit symbolizes space exploration the need to work in the vacuum of space is an important element of the NASA Space Program here you are watching two astronauts wearing specially made suits experimenting in zero gravity with the techniques that will be needed for construction of space station Freedom those special suits they're wearing called extravehicular Mobility units protect the astronaut from the environment of space and provide the astronaut with the flexibility he needs to work efficiently outside the shuttle and on the space station survival and Mobility are important factors in designing the space suit before looking in detail at how these suits work to protect the astronaut let's take a look at a few of the early attempts to find a way to ensure man's survival in a harsh environment this is Aviator Wy post and his Winnie may an early 1930s version of a pressure suit he was among the first to discover the problems of movement in a pressurized suit when he and his molded plywood monoplane were skimming the upper reaches of the Stratosphere in CrossCountry speed flights he discovered that his suit became rigid and immobile as soon as it was pressurized just like a balloon the suit worn by Mercury astronauts was adapted from from the US Navy pressure suit this suit was worn as a backup to the spacecraft cabin pressure control system and would have been used only if cabin pressure had been lost designers used a different approach for the space suit worn by Gemini astronauts the effort here was to make the whole suit flexible when pressurized the construction improved arm and shoulder mobility and made the suit more comfortable when it was worn unpressurized for long periods of time for the Apollo program astronauts needed a suit that would allow them to climb out of the lunar module descend a ladder to the surface bend over to pick up samples and walk over rugged terrain the Apollo space suit was designed to satisfy the unique combination of lunar requirements including increased Mobility low weight because of the moon's partial gravity and ruggedness for the dusty environment the complete suit System including Hamilton standards portable life support system is called called the extravehicular mobility unit or emu for short for the space shuttle astronauts a new suit was again developed to incorporate improvements in Comfort convenience and Mobility over all previous designs this suit which is the one used today is modular features many interchangeable parts and can be size for both large and small crew members it can be operated in temperature extremes of between 350° F and - 250° F the Hamilton standard emu is often referred to as the world's smallest manned spacecraft providing protection and earthlike Mobility for the astronaut working in space hi I'm Karen Wallace for Hamilton standard let's take a look at the components that make up the shuttle space suit known as the Emu then we'll see the suit put on and taken off called Dawning and doing first let's look at the liquid cooling and ventilation garment it looks like a pair of long underwear with one important exception it's laced with 300 ft of small plastic tubing which circulates cooling water over the entire body next here's the lower torso assembly the pants and boots and the hip knee and Ankle joints this covers the crew member from the waist down it's made of nine laminated layers these serve several functions the bladder and restraint provide pressure retention the liner protects these two layers from micrometeoroid puncture the next five layers insulate the astronaut by blocking the heat of the Sun the final outermost layer is Teflon coated it provides insulation is abrasion resistant and protects the astronaut in the event of a fire this is the hard upper torso it's a fiberglass shell that serves as the main building block of the Emu the primary life support system and other spacit components attached to this hard structure this is the arm assembly with the outer covering remove so you can see what it looks like the arm assembly has a ball bearing at the elbow and shoulder joints for easy Mobility it attaches right here the glove of the suit is like the human hand it incorporates it's all the basic motion of the hand and wrist the wrist of the glove has a ball bearing and the fingers are flexible and inside is the molded bladder the display and control module is mounted to the hard upper torso and contains all the displays and controls that the crew member needs to operate the primary life support system this is the primary life support system and the Heart and Soul of the Emu it's mounted to the back of the hard upper torso and provides the thermal and environmental control for the suit this is a standalone battery powered system that provides a number of important functions breathable air pure oxygen is constantly added to the suit to replenish the oxygen consumed by the astronaut's breathing temperature control by varying the flow of cold water through the suit the astronaut can control his or her body temperature during both idle periods and periods of Maximum exertion simulated earthlike pressure in the vacuum of space an astronaut needs pressure surrounding their body to simulate the atmospheric pressure here on Earth contamination control as the astronaut breathes carbon dioxide is exhaled and if allowed to accumulate would become toxic to the astronaut the contamination control cartridge within the primary life support system prevents this humidity control water vapor is also exhaled when you breathe air flow within the suit is used to collect this humidity and the astronaut's perspiration by doing this problems such as helmet fogging and moisture collection within the suit are eliminated this is the helmet it protects the wearer from thermal and solar radiation environments in space before you can put one on you first have to put on the communications assembly this has two microphones one primary and one backup and a headset this allows the astronaut to talk to crew members in and outside of the Orbiter the helmet has three Shields and one goldplated visor to protect the astronaut's eyes from the Sun there are other pieces of equipment that go along with the suit the urine collection device the insit drink bag and the umbilical line for life support and pre- and postm Mission servicing now that you've seen all the sub Assemblies of the suit let's put one on with us today is Jeff Robert a Hamilton standard suit engineer Jeff will be taking us through a Dawning exercise okay Jeff where do we start well the first thing we have to do is put on the lower torso assembly and in order to do that you got to get your feet down into these boots and then pull the trousers up simply by pulling on these dining handles okay what's next the next thing is to down the heart upper torso and what are those thumb Loops for well they hold these sleeves in place so when I go through the arms they don't slide up in my arms all right the next thing we're going to do is connect the liquid cool garment to the heart upper torso by uh by this connector here all right the next thing I'm going to do is connect the lower torso assembly to the heart upper torso by means of this quick disconnect at the [Music] waist then I'm going to put on the com cap here you go Jeff you and your [Music] gloves [Music] all right the last thing we're going to do is put the helmet [Music] on [Music] now that Jeff is completely enclosed in the suit he's being supplied with his own air while the suit is pressurized at approximately 4 lb per square inch just like it is in space keep in mind the problems Wy post had with his Winnie May suit which became rigid like a balloon when it was pressurized how you doing in there Jeff I'm doing fine now if you'll help me off this dining station I'll demonstrate some of the mobility and flexibility that's been designed into the shuttle space suit [Music] okay first let me demonstrate some of the bearings we've been talking about there's a bearing in the wrist a bearing in the elbow and a bearing in the shoulder the wrist bearing allows me to rotate my wrist in this fashion the elbow bearing allows me to raise it up and down like so and the shoulder bearing allows me to swing my arms back and forth additionally there's flexibility built into the into the wrist so that I can move my wrist in this fashion or in this fashion there's also a joint at the elbow so I can move my arm in and out and there's one at the shoulder that allows me to swing my arms up and down moving down to the waist there's a bearing in the lower section that allows me to twist the Torso from side to side there's also a joint in the waist section that allows me to bend over and there's also joints in the knees so I can bend my knees and then of course to be able to walk is also if joint in the ankles so I can move my ankles up and down now I'd like to demonstrate the ability of the suit to do jumping jacks you can see they're quite easy thanks a lot Jeff I'm sure you want to get back to your D station now thank you remember when we talked about the dexterity provided by the gloves here's a little demonstration of just how good they really are you remember what this means right e muu the Hamilton standard emu makes space exploration possible it is indeed the world's smallest spacecraft providing protection and earthlike Mobility for the astronaut working in space [Music] [Music] you