Space suit, the protection of an astronaut

A spacesuit falls to the equipment of an astronaut, and maintains that he or she can survive in space. Spacesuits take care of a good air pressure, good temperature, administering of water, supplying oxygen. It also offers protection against tiny little space particles, which are shot with the speed of a bullet. Furthermore, a spacesuit scavenges the faeces and urine of an astronaut. Complying with all these demands, spacesuits are, without doubt, expensive.

History

The history of spacesuits does not go back that far. The first astronaut to wear a spacesuit was Alan Shepard. In 1961, he walked around in it, in space. Shepards suit consisted some sort of umbilical cord, which was connected to the spaceship, to supply him with oxygen and cooling. Everyone agreed this little trip outside the ship to be quite dangerous.

In 1969, the first man, Neil Armstrong, walked on the moon, in his ‘light weighted’ spacesuit. Since, people are no longer amazed by ‘walking’ astronauts.

Light

A spacesuit must not be too heavy, for then the astronauts should have to carry too much weight with them. The suit of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, had a weight of as much as 90 kilos. Off course, this seems quite a lot, however, on the moon objects weigh six times less. Therefore, Neil Armstrong only had to carry 15 kilos with him.

Spacesuits for people who work in space shuttles weigh over 150 kilo. Again, this seems much, but space shuttles only circle around the earth. Over there, everything is weightless, and so are the 150 kilo space suits.

Sizes

At the end of the 60’s, every astronaut had his own spacesuit. All suits were made on size, including a trainings suit and a spare suit, which was, all together, quite expensive. Nowadays, astronauts can still choose their suits on size, however, a different method is now followed. A spacesuit is made up of 10 separate parts. Every part is made in different sizes, but despite these differences, every part is made to fit to another part. Now, the astronauts only have to choose the parts in their size. After every flight, the suits are disconnected, cleaned and checked. Subsequently other astronauts could make use of the parts. This way, most suits have a life span of 15 years.

Layers

A spacesuit is made up of 11 different layers of material. The seven outside layers serve as bullit protection, and ward off floating litter. Furthermore, these layers protect against heat and cold. The two following layers enables the astronaut to be able to breathe. The other layers have a web of tubes, through which water runs. The tubes drain the body heath to the package that is carried on the back. Spacesuits are made in such a way that moulds and bacteria have no chance of reproducing. And since a suit can not be washed in space, this is a rather essential feature.

Safety

Upon departure, the astronauts wear an orange overall to which easily a parachute can be attached. If perhaps something should go wrong during departure, they will always be able to return safely to Earth. Once the astronauts have arrived in space, they take off they overalls. Inside the space shuttle, they mostly wear their own clothes. If something has to be taken care off outside the spaceship, they put on their spacesuits. This is done part by part. Every separate part is in three different ways attached to another part. Before a part could be detached, three actions have to be taken. This is quite bothersome, however necessary for safety. An astronaut thus can never accidentally detach some part of his suit, and therefore will always remain the suitable air pressure.

Sources: www.todio.nl