Witnessing The Interior Structure Of Space Suit Through X Ray Technology

Through X - ray technology, we can see the internal structure of this experiment. The spacesuit, produced by Air Research Corporation in 1968, has a series of aluminum coils and pipes inside.

These X - ray images are part of the Suited for Space exhibition at Smithson's National Aeronautics and Astronautics Museum. Through them, people can get a better picture of what astronauts are wearing. clothing 。 Through pictures, X ray instruments and craft products, the exhibition traces the development and evolution of space apparel over the past sixty years.

Historian Catherine Lewis (Cathleen Lewis) is the head of the international space station project in the museum. She explained that the aluminum coil located at the elbow and knee position allows astronauts to move joints more easily in the pressurized spacesuit. "Shoulders allow astronauts to control the movement of air and limit local pressurization," she said. "The purpose of joints is designed to automatically control the movement of air." In other words, without these special joint structures, when the astronauts lift their arms, the spacesuit will be bulged to make their arms unable to move.

It is reported that the exhibition of Smithson's national air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. will continue until December 1st, when the exhibition will continue in Tampa, Philadelphia and Seattle. {page_break}

This is a set of tests. Space suit The test site is a vacuum chamber at NASA's Ames Research Center, which simulates the outer space environment of 121 kilometers above sea level. Astronauts put on spacesuits, put oxygen in, and then walked into the vacuum chamber, where they were asked to complete repetitive, sometimes even numb movements, such as walking up and down the box, and so on, after which technicians would check their spacesuit.

Although the space industry started only in the near future in 1960s, the vacuum chamber has been in the history of nearly 20 years. In the early 1950s, the US Air Force built the vacuum chamber, when the air force also used vacuum pipes on the plane. "But many of the vacuum pipes are out of order," Catherine Lewis said. "They need to find out why."

Defense contractor giant Leighton industries, which was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001, designed a vacuum chamber to detect why the vacuum tube failed. In order to complete the test, they must first design a set of clothing that technicians wear in the vacuum chamber. "The air force is fascinated by the costume," Lewis said. "Even after the vacuum tubes of the aircraft were stopped, they still subsidized the study of the clothing by Lipton industries. When the US aerospace agency was founded (1958), they obtained most of the research data from the air force.

Over the next few years, hundreds of people were engaged in the study of space suits: engineers designed spacesuits, technicians tested them, manufacturers made parts, others set up final products. "It's hard to see through X rays, some of which are hand sewn." Lewis said. {page_break}

This is a helmet designed in 1964, and its function is much more than protecting the head. The helmet can be used on several sets of spacesuits, and also has balls on the neck ring. It can be clearly seen from this X ray map, which enables the astronauts to turn around flexibly to the left and right.

"The helmet is very well sealed, it also provides communication lines and oxygen supply devices," Lewis pointed to the dark part of the middle part of the helmet. "These parts are oxygen." There are still some things that can not be displayed on X - ray images, such as mist eliminator. The general demister is sprayed on the front part of the helmet to avoid fog formation. Now, demister is a specially designed compound, but in the past, they also used detergent. Lewis said.

It is not easy to design a proper arm for spacesuit, partly because of the need to maintain some pressure inside the space suit. "Under pressure, spacesuit is difficult to move," Lewis said. "This needs to design a mobile joint." Engineers need to determine the movement of the air, so that when bending the arm, it does not cause the other arm to suddenly straighten up or a part to expand and protruding.

"After the mission of mercury and Gemini, they have been looking for ways to improve arm mobility," Lewis said. "Astronauts must be able to use their hands easily if they want to do something meaningful." {page_break}

This is a suit of spacesuit. shoes When astronauts walk on the surface of the moon, they can be put on the astronauts' shoes. Lewis said: "they can make astronauts' feet better isolated from the outside world." The bottom of the shoe is made of silicon material, and the upper part of the shoe is made of chromium and stainless steel. There are also materials on the gloves of spacesuit. As an additional protective layer, astronauts play a protective role when they touch or trample some sharp objects on the surface of the moon.

Although the spacesuit overshoes will be used in every Apollo mission, there are only one pair of overshoes. One of the pair of shoes in this picture comes from Apollo 17 spacecraft and is back to earth. Other overshoes were left on the surface of the moon due to the weight limit of the return task.

Gloves are the most difficult part of spacesuit. "If an astronaut wants to do some real work in outer space, he or she needs to use the tools skillfully," Lewis said. "And gloves also require good protection." Between dexterity and protection, we need to be careful to maintain balance.

The gloves in this picture are from the mission of the Apollo spacecraft. It does not seem to have finger parts, but in fact, the fingertips of gloves are made of silicon material, and silicon does not absorb any rays, so the fingertip part can not be seen on this X ray graph. The ring at the wrist position below the glove can play a fixed role, so that the gloves will not fly away when the spacesuit is inflated.

"You have to connect it with the spacesuit, but you should also pay attention to preventing the problem of nerve compression," Lewis said. "However, all the astronauts are complaining about gloves and are still complaining."