Working of the space suit Posted Date: 18 Oct 2009     Resource Type: Articles/Knowledge Sharing     Category: How things work Author: Kiran Kumar Member Level: Diamond     Rating: Points: 10 (Rs 10)

Working of the space suit Space suits create an earth-like environment within the suit itself and provide safety to the astronauts. Ø Pressurized atmosphere Space suits prevent boiling of the liquids inside the body and keep them in liquid state. The suit supplies air pressure on the astronaut inside, like blowing up a balloon inside a cardboard tube. Most spacesuits operate at pressures below normal atmosphere pressure; the space shuttle cabin also operates at normal atmospheric pressure. The space suit used by shuttle astronauts operates at 0.29 atmospheres. Therefore, the cabin pressure of either the shuttle itself or an airlock Must be reduced before an astronaut gets suited up for a spacewalk. Otherwise an astronaut may get bends because of the changes in pressure between the spacesuit and the shuttle cabin. Ø Oxygen Space suit do not use normal air-785%mitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other gases- because the low pressure can Causes dangerously low oxygen concentrations in the lungs and blood. So, most spacesuits provide a pure oxygen atmosphere for breathing. Spacesuits get the oxygen either from a spacecraft via an umbilical cord or from a backpack life support system that the astronaut wears. Both the shuttle and the international space station have normal air mixtures that mimic our atmosphere. An astronaut must breathe I pure oxygen atmosphere before wearing the space suit as this will eliminate the nitrogen from the astronaut’s blood and tissues, thereby minimizing the risk of the bend. Ø Carbon dioxide The astronaut breathes out carbon dioxide. The excess carbon dioxide must be removed from the spacesuit’s atmosphere. Spacesuits use lithium hydroxide canisters to remove carbon dioxide. These canisters are located either in the spacesuit life support backpack or in spacecrafts connected through an umbilical cord. Ø Temperature To cope with the extreme temperature, most spacesuits are heavily insulted with layers of fabric and covered with reflective outer layers to reflect sunlight. The astronaut produces heat from his body, especially when doing strenuous activities. If this heat is not removed, the sweet produced by the astronaut to become severely dehydrated. To remove this excess heat, spacesuits have used either fans/ heat exchangers to blow cool air, as in the Mercury and Gemini programs, or water-cooled garments, which have been used from the Apollo program. Ø Micrometeoroids To protect the astronaut from collisions with micrometeoroids, spacesuits have multiple layers of durables fabrics such as Dacron of Kevlar. There layers also prevent the suits from tearing on exposed surfaces of the spacecrafts or a planet or moon. Ø Radiation Spacesuits offer only limited protection from radiation. Some protection is offered by the reflective coatings of Mylar that are built into the suits, but a spacesuits would not offer much like sunglasses. Also, prior to a spacewalk, the inside faceplates of the helmet are sprayed with an anti-fog compound. Finally modern spacesuit helmet coverings have mounted lights so that astronaut can see in to the shadows. Ø Mobility with the spacesuit Moving within an inflated spacesuit is tough. To help this problem, spacesuits are equipped with special joints or tapers in the fabric to help the astronaut bend their hands, arms, legs, knees and ankles. Ø Communications Spacesuits are equipped with radio transmitters so that spacewalking astronaut can talk with ground controllers and/or other astronaut. The astronauts wear headsets with microphones and earphones. The transmitters are located in the chest packs/backpacks worn by the astronaut. Ø Mobility in the spacesuit In weightlessness, it is difficult to move around. As per Newton ‘if push you on something, you fly in the opposite direction. Gemini spacewalking astronaut reported great problems with just maintaining their position; when they tried to turn a wrench, they spun in the opposite direction. Therefore, Spacecrafts are equipped with footholds and hand restraints to help astronaut work in microgravity. In addition, before the mission, astronauts practice spacewalking in big water tanks on earth. The buoyancy of an inflated spacesuit in water microgravity.

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