Space suits

Abstract

A spacefarer, a fragile human being, working outside a spacecraft in space or outside a habitat on the surface of another celestial body such as the Moon or Mars, needs a breathable atmosphere, protection against vacuum or very low pressures, adequate mechanical, thermal, and radiation protection, communications, a means to move from worksite to worksite, and a way to use diversified tools. To justify complex systems satisfying all these human-specific needs, it is desirable to exploit the advantages of a human being at work (i.e., his dexterity, tactility, vision, experience, and intelligence). This can only be accomplished by providing the spacefarer with a suit that is tailored to the mission concerned. The first space suits 50 years ago fulfilled the single simple objective to provide a breathable atmosphere for an hour or two. In less than a decade, suits for use on the lunar surface had been developed and today spacewalkers annually spend hundreds of hours undertaking the construction and necessary maintenance of a space station. For a future mission to Mars, the challenging task is to design a suit with a mass less than half that of the suits used by the Apollo astronauts on the Moon. This chapter gives a historical overview of past and present space suits, and the important accomplishments achieved, and analyzes the problems in designing future suits and the technologies required.