American astronaut costume revolution

Over half a century of pursuing space exploration programs, the US Space Agency (NASA) has been searching for the most suitable outfit for its cosmonauts. Join National Geographic magazine to review the major changes in America's astronaut costume revolution.

A photo published in 1963 shows American astronaut Alan Shepard in a silver-colored costume from the early days of Mercury 's space exploration program by the US Space Agency (NASA). It has been 50 years since Shepard - the first American to fly into space (after Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin - the first human in space exploration - nearly a month) on a short journey. , not full of earth orbit on Freedom 7.

Over the decades, costumes for American astronauts have changed due to the increasingly complex task of astronauts. The costume that astronaut Shepard wore during a 16-minute space expedition in 1961 was designed by aerospace equipment company BF Goodrich and named Mark-IV . According to Bill Ayrey - a cosmonaut costume historian, Mark-IV was transformed from the pilot's pressure outfit of the US Navy.

Later astronaut costumes were created to help astronauts withstand the life outside the spacecraft. They also help astronauts stay well-ventilated and in comfortable temperature as well as radiation safety and meteorite effects.

This heavy outfit was produced by Litton Industries in the early 1960s. It was designed to protect astronauts on the Apollo spacecraft during the mission of moon exploration. However, NASA eventually removed this model of clothing and replaced it with a lighter design made by ILC Dover .

Dubbed Block III , the main drawback of the outfit designed by Litton is that it is very bulky and cannot be stored under seats in the journey between the earth and the moon. In keeping with this bulky suit, an ILC Dover expert said that NASA needed another vehicle, not the Apollo spacecraft because it had a very limited storage area.

However, the heavy costumes have an advantage over softer patterns . " When used and under pressure, heavy, hard clothes are not compressed into soft fabrics. Therefore, physically, the air is not compressed while under pressure, leading to the travel of the house. Spatial operations require less energy when bending different joints, such as arms and legs, " Ayrey explained.

The Gemini 3 crew members, including "Gus" Virgil Grissom (left) and John Young take photos in their G3C astronaut costumes in 1964. Boxes attached to their suits NASA is the mobile air conditioner to keep hot astronauts in their clothes under pressure.

Is the product of David Clark company, G3C costume model and its close brother - G4C is designed for adventure trips and other spacecraft activities in space. "This is really the beginning of the standard outfit for space travel ," Ayrey said.

The outer coatings of the two models G3C and G4C are made of many layers of nylon and a refractory material called Nomex. Although the Gemini 3 crew did not leave the spacecraft, astronaut Ed White of the Gemini 4 crew made the first American spacewalk expedition in 1965 while wearing the G4C suit. .

Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin is wearing an A7L space costume during his historic moon surface expedition when he joined the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Later, when the travelers Apollo 15 astronaut is assigned to explore the moon in an explorer car, NASA has switched to using a lighter and more flexible version of the A7L, with the name A7LB. The reason for this move, according to Ayrey, is: " Astronauts need to sit comfortably in the moon exploration vehicle, while the A7L model is difficult to bend at the waist . "

Beneath the familiar white coating of the A7LB space suit is the intricate inner layers to protect astronauts from harsh conditions in space. In addition to multistage insulation, NASA's A7LB model also contains a liquid cooling system to help fight astronauts. This system was first put to use in Apollo's expedition missions, when scientists found that only cool air circulation through clothing was not enough. " With the costumes of Apollo astronauts, NASA for the first time used liquid cooling clothes (LCG) to cool the body, bring warm water into a backpack and cool it ," said Ayrey. said.

NASA's Bruce McCandless astronaut floats on the background of the vast blue ocean and porous white clouds in a photograph taken in April 1983 during a mission of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Equipped with a handheld controller for propeller propellers, McCandless had the first space exploration walk without being forced into a space shuttle.

In general, shuttle missions require space dress approval. " All clothes have to be slightly different," Ayrey said.

Apollo astronaut's space suits have been designed to operate in low gravity environments, and so they have flexible bodies, ankles and knees to help the whole body move. comfortable.

According to Ayrey, the space shuttle is also the first model to be built with a modular design philosophy."ILC Dover has built many different parts of the outfit and sent them to Houston, where the outfit can be assembled for a mission, then brought back, disassembled and reused. again ".

When NASA planned for people to return to the moon and then to a mission to Mars, engineers were rethinking astronaut costumes again. The photo above shows a model of tight-fitting space, designed to protect astronauts but more flexible.

This beautiful "BioSuit" outfit is designed by engineer Dava Newman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . This product was born not based on traditional air compression method, but instead depends on mechanical pressure, which includes many materials tightly wrapped around the body. BioSuit costumes are still not ready for space travel, but Mr. Newman predicts a useful prototype of this type of outfit can be released in about 10 years.

However, Ayrey expert ILC Dover is skeptical: " In theory, the costume model will allow astronauts to maintain the pressure they need in the vacuum environment of the universe. However, as I have seen, it is impractical because there are so many challenges, such as maintaining and eliminating heat, along with other factors that need to be addressed due to the harsh environment in space. This can lead to additional classes, and thus reduce the benefits. "