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Almost everyone on planet Earth has seen the famous images of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin standing on the moon. But, often overshadowed by the weight of the historical realization itself, the most obvious feature of these photographs is also one of the most critical elements of crewed space flight missions: their space suits.
About half a million people worked on NASA Apollo Project, taking an impossible idea and landing humans on the moon. During their journey, astronauts used specialized space suits to protect themselves from harsh space conditions, and NASA relied on this legacy for the design of its space suits.
Radiation, extreme temperatures and many other factors to threaten the lives of those humans who venture off our little blue marble. But the best way to protect astronauts from these risks varies with the details of the mission.
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This space suit was worn by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil A. Armstrong.
Apollo suits have been specially designed to work on the lunar surface. These combinations therefore had to be redesigned for the NASA space shuttle program and reworked again for astronauts traveling to the International Space Station. Now engineers are reinventing space suits while NASA is working to send humans to Mars and the Moon with NASA Artemis Program, in addition to continuing work on the space station.
Whatever the destination, the different layers of a space suit are carefully associated with different materials. "Each of the materials is there for a specific job. We are not fashion designersMallory Jennings, space suit engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center, told Space.com.
The current suits built for exits into space from the station include, Jennings added, an internal bladder layer that keeps the pressure on, a retaining layer that can be sized and sewn to fit the suit to the size of the bladder. 39, astronaut, and multiple layers of aluminized mylar that insulate and protect against extreme temperatures. In addition to all this is what is called "Ortho-Fabric", which has been specifically designed for NASA and includes protective materials like Kevlar.
Neil A. Armstrong's diving suit, separated into pieces as it was before being assembled before the flight.
(Image credit: NASA)
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin in his space suit Apollo poses for a portrait on the moon during the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission in July 1969. The technology behind the Apollo Space Diving is still in use nowadays on Earth.
(Image credit: NASA)
The space suit of the maneuver unit, used as part of the NASA space shuttle program.
(Image credit: NASA)
Astronauts Lisa M. Nowak, Michael E. Fossum and Piers J. Sellers wear training versions of the spacesuit for launching and entering the shuttle.
(Image credit: NASA)
The prototype Z-2 combination, being developed as part of the next generation of space suits.
(Image credit: NASA)
This structure would seem quite familiar to Apollo astronauts, despite the layers that have changed, said Amy Ross, Space Combination Engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center, at Space.com. "From Apollo to Shuttle, the multilayer insulation is the same, the layers still have the same function, but the outer material of any of them, the Ortho Fabric changed, with new requirements that required more Apollo durability, "she says.
For those who are not space suit engineers, it may seem that space suits have not changed in decades, as they are pretty much alike. And while some of the space suit equipment is 25 or 30 years old, Ross said, NASA's space suit engineers have constantly updated and modified the suits and developed new technologies to meet the challenges of space. .
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However, as new moon and Mars missions will require new space combinations, space suit engineers can always return to Apollo suits to inspire. The engineers and astronauts who built and used the suits can guide the design of modern suits, especially for lunar missions like Artemis, by explaining what worked or did not work for astronauts on the lunar surface.
Two main features of Apollo suits have caused many problems for astronauts and will not be part of the new design. "The zippers are bad and the cables are bad," Ross said. During the passages on Apollo's moon, braided metal cables tended to fray and zippers, which sealed the air in the suits, clogged with the lunar regolith and only did not work very well, she said.
The next generation of space suits will have to learn from these previous lunar struggles and then be able to handle the unique environment on Mars, which will require even more design changes. The multi-layered insulation that has so far protected astronauts is designed to work in microgravity environments; While Mars has less gravity than the Earth, there is too much gravity for this isolation to be effective. Ross and the other engineers in NASA's space suit are working on developing materials that can be used as insulators on Mars, she said. Such an option for the isolation of space suits that NASA teams have been developing for several years is airgel – an ultralight and porous material used in robotic missions like star dust.
It is too early to say what NASA's next space suit prototypes will look like, but they will certainly have to withstand extreme conditions. Ross and Jennings also believe that the suits need less maintenance and configuration than current suits, freeing astronauts for more exciting space work.
NASA teams are also developing new costumes for the future Orion crew These are primarily crew survival suits, but can also be used to pressure the crew member to perform emergency extravehicular activity. But they hope astronauts will never need this feature. "The pressure loss in the cabin is why these combinations exist," Ross said. "You'll only really need this costume in case of a bad day."
Meghan Bartels, Senior Writer for Space.com, contributed to the writing of this article. Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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