Turn the space suit into a satellite

A unique test prepared to be conducted in Earth orbit: turning old cosmic suits into useful satellites

The Russian-made old Orlon suit has been turned into a SuitSat satellite (Photo: VNN).

On February 3, 2006, two astronauts will walk out of the International Space Station (ISS) to conduct routine maintenance as well as recover some laboratory trays outside.

However, later astronomer Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams will push a distorted and empty space suit into space.

In fact, this Orlon suit has been modified to act like a primitive radio satellite and renamed SuitSat. Frank Bauer of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said: "Some Russian scientists from the ISS program have this idea: turning old space suits into useful satellites ."

It is known that Russian-made clothes are too old to be used on ISS. Now it will provide some useful information before leaving the world .

SuitSat is equipped with radio signal generator and electronic control unit. In addition, there is an external antenna mounted. When flying around the Earth at thousands of kilometers per hour, SuitSat will transmit information about its status to the ground.

Thereby, scientists can know if the suit is too hot, how long the battery works, how the resistance changes . SuitSat will also gradually fall to Earth and disintegrate in gas. book within the next few weeks. Can track its flight by radar.

SuitSat also broadcast a recording to celebrate the people on Earth. This radio signal will be played for about 30 seconds, on FM radio 145.990 MHz, once a minute. Message content: '' This is SuitSat-1, RS0RS '' , followed by greetings in English, French, Japanese, Russian, German and Western BanNha.

In addition, SuitSat also broadcast a static TV image but NASA has not disclosed the image content.

This project is primarily aimed at attracting public attention to NASA's human space program. However, it may provide some useful information. For example, knowing how the resistance changes can help NASA find a way to save an astronaut who is drifting away from ISS while walking out.

Minh Son (According to NewScientist)