The new nasa space suits

[maccollo]

Ran across this video from NASA, complete with bad ass music. Didn't even know they were working on new space suits. They look only about 100 times more practical than the bulky ones they currently have.

Thoughts on this?

Edited December 17, 2013 by maccollo

[Scotius]

Interesting. At first i was worried about all those flappy thingies, just waiting to snag on something. But then i realised it's just ballast pouches. Derp

[Nibb31]

The new Z-1 suit is also called the "Buzz Lightyear suit" because of the green highlights. They are based on the orange ACES suits that were used on the Shuttle. I wonder how they managed to shield them enough for EVA jobs.

[Scotius]

Some sort of fancy, bleeding-edge metamaterial?

[Tommygun]

Is this Z-1 suit basically the forth generation of the I-Suit?

I-Suit

Z-1 Suit

Edited December 17, 2013 by Tommygun

[Nibb31]

They certainly look very similar. The main difference is that the Z-1 suit is designed to attach to a suit-port, which minimizes dust contamination and removes the need for an airlock.

[Tommygun]

As I understand it some of the second generation I-suits also had a rear entry hatch.

I can't seem to find a descent photo of the third generation of the I-suit (I think called REI-Suit?).

I'm not sure it had a hatch on it, but looks like it.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Tommygun

[ZedNova]

2020:

[Nibb31]

A rear-entry hatch doesn't mean that it works with a suit-port. The Russian Orlan suits are also rear-entry, but they still need to be donned in an airlock.

A suit-port is a hatch from which the suit hangs outside the vehicle. It never comes inside, except for contingency situations or for repairs and inspections. The main advantages of a suit-port are:

- You don't need to decompress-recompress an airlock or the vehicle cabin. This saves consumables and facilitates operations on smaller vehicles like the SEV for example.

- You avoid bringing dust contamination from the outside into the vehicle. This avoids breathing potentially toxic material and keeps things clean. The Apollo LM was filthy after the lunar EVAs.

[CaptRobau]

That video of the underwater suit testing made me realize that a company should start offering fake EVAs in a pool like that. Turn off the lights, paint the sides of the pool black and put screens on the bottom showing Earth from orbit. Put a few modules, etc. in there (hollow ones of course) and design a space suit just for underwater (the real deal would use actual space suits). Probably would be very expensive to make, but it'd be a hell of day out.

[SuperWeegee4000]

A rear-entry hatch doesn't mean that it works with a suit-port. The Russian Orlan suits are also rear-entry, but they still need to be donned in an airlock.

A suit-port is a hatch from which the suit hangs outside the vehicle. It never comes inside, except for contingency situations or for repairs and inspections. The main advantages of a suit-port are:

- You don't need to decompress-recompress an airlock or the vehicle cabin. This saves consumables and facilitates operations on smaller vehicles like the SEV for example.

- You avoid bringing dust contamination from the outside into the vehicle. This avoids breathing potentially toxic material and keeps things clean. The Apollo LM was filthy after the lunar EVAs.

Earthbase Alpha.

Seriously, though, the new suits and rovers will be instrumental in our return to the moon. Hopefully all this won't be obsolete by the time NASA gets there.

[jwenting]

there's no manned space program left, so why the need for suits?

Once the ISS gets abandoned in 2016 there are no more manned flights anywhere, period, unless they hitch a ride with the Chinese to their space station (which exists only on the drawing board), and the Chinese have their own suits custom fitted to their capsule design.

Edited March 19, 2015 by KasperVld

[Tommygun]

That video of the underwater suit testing made me realize that a company should start offering fake EVAs in a pool like that. Turn off the lights, paint the sides of the pool black and put screens on the bottom showing Earth from orbit. Put a few modules, etc. in there (hollow ones of course) and design a space suit just for underwater (the real deal would use actual space suits). Probably would be very expensive to make, but it'd be a hell of day out.

Last I heard it's $12,000,000 US for a NASA flight rated space suit.

You might be able to do it with a dry type diving suit with a high end costume space suit over the dry suit.

[Tommygun]

there's no manned space program left, so why the need for suits?

Once the ISS gets abandoned in 2016 there are no more manned flights anywhere, period, unless they hitch a ride with the Chinese to their space station (which exists only on the drawing board), and the Chinese have their own suits custom fitted to their capsule design.

It's not that bad Jwenting, we may have a dry spell for a time, but manned flights will come back for NASA.

Edited March 19, 2015 by KasperVld

[Kryten]

there's no manned space program left, so why the need for suits?

Once the ISS gets abandoned in 2016 there are no more manned flights anywhere, period, unless they hitch a ride with the Chinese to their space station (which exists only on the drawing board), and the Chinese have their own suits custom fitted to their capsule design.

First CCDEV flight planned 2016 or 2017, and first crewed Orion flight by 2021; ISS is funded to 2020 and will probably be extended to 2028; and the Chinese have used off-the shelf russian-built Orlan suits on at least one Shenzhou mission.

Edited March 19, 2015 by KasperVld

[DisarmingBaton5]

That video of the underwater suit testing made me realize that a company should start offering fake EVAs in a pool like that. Turn off the lights, paint the sides of the pool black and put screens on the bottom showing Earth from orbit. Put a few modules, etc. in there (hollow ones of course) and design a space suit just for underwater (the real deal would use actual space suits). Probably would be very expensive to make, but it'd be a hell of day out.

I wonder if that would make a profit. If so, it would indeed be "a hell of a day out"

[NGTOne]

On a more serious note, it looks a great deal more maneuverable than both the current-generation American and Russian suits. I mean, the ultimate goal is a fully maneuverable, nonrigid (with the possible exception of the helmet) suit, but that's unlikely at best. And suit ports are most definitely the way forward - easier to put on and take off, don't track dust inside, etc.

Edited March 19, 2015 by KasperVld

[Suko]

I like the way China is starting to tingle that american pride.

With a bit of luck the US will revive that feeling they had with the USSR and a new space race will start, that's what space exploration needs the most, people getting interested on it and pushing their goverments to revive it.

We managed to get to the Moon in a decade since the first probe got above the atmosphere, imagine what we could do with nowadays technology if we went for it.

[SpaceMan Craig]

mAN THOSE look cool

[Moar Boosters]

The description says it's just a modified version of the orange ACES suit, so it's nothing really new. The ACES was for emergencies. It's lighter and less bulky than the EMU because it only offers a few minutes of life support and hardly any protection against radiation or extreme temperatures. The ACES was based on the original gemini suits, so it's really old tech.

I guess it's a sign of the times for NASA. They've probably decided the EMU is too heavy and expensive to put into space, so they're turning what was previously an emergency system into the only thing they use.

[maccollo]

Apparently, one of the reasons for that is because there wont be room for EMU suits on the Orion capsule.

To me, something like this would make more sense on a mars expedition where you wont need significant radiation protection, micrometeorite protection or active cooling systems build into the EVA suits.

On the asteroid mission (not an actual asteroid mission, it's a meteoroid/small rock) all those dangers will be present, so it's appears to be a compromise forced on NASA as a result of bad planning.

[Tommygun]

The description says it's just a modified version of the orange ACES suit, so it's nothing really new. The ACES was for emergencies. It's lighter and less bulky than the EMU because it only offers a few minutes of life support and hardly any protection against radiation or extreme temperatures. The ACES was based on the original gemini suits, so it's really old tech.

I guess it's a sign of the times for NASA. They've probably decided the EMU is too heavy and expensive to put into space, so they're turning what was previously an emergency system into the only thing they use.

The pictures of it make it look like a continuation of the I-suit. If it is a modified ACES suit, then they must have at least changed the outside covering, helmet and added a port. That's a lot of modifications.

The Apollo suits had a removable outer covering. I'm not sure if the new suits do that?

I wouldn't call it old tech though, the ACES suits have been continually upgraded over the years. It would be like comparing a 1964 Ford Mustang to a 2013 model.

[SmallFatFetus]

The green must be for visibility on mars, very cool. NASA likes to plan ahead.

[RainDreamer]

Looking forward to Biosuit one day. On related note, NASA is looking to give smartglass for astronauts so they can freely use their hands for other things instead of flipping manuals when there are problems.

[sgt_flyer]

And what about the state of the mechanical counterpressure suits ? There are at least functionnal glove prototypes for this technology.

(Basically, in those suits, only the helmet would be kept pressurised. The rest of the suit would prevent body part vacuum swelling by simply 'constricting' them. - which allows for joints / gloves much less stiff than their pressurized counterparts for a much better range of movement. (they would still have thermal regulation systems though)

Last time i checked on those, the gloves prototypes worked in a vacuum box, and they were researching some smart materials able to stretch or contract through electric impulses (so the astronauts could don the spacesuits easily while they are stretched, before making them shrink to provide the counterpressure.)

All in all, there's still some time before we land another astronaut on a celestial body - so everything can still evolve until then