Space suits

Tomorrow marks exactly 49 years since the first space flight completed by Yuri Gagarin in 1961. On this day, the entire planet celebrates World Aviation and Space Day.

On this occasion, I decided to write a post about space suits - to tell about the history of their occurrence, design and, if possible, compare our suits with American counterparts.

A bit of pre-cosmic history

The need to create a spacesuit appeared in the early 30s. The fact is that test pilots, even with oxygen helmets, could not climb to heights of more than 12 km due to low atmospheric pressure. At this height, nitrogen, dissolved in human tissues, begins to turn into a gaseous state, which leads to pain.

Therefore, in 1931, engineer E. Chertovsky designed the first “Ch-1” spacesuit. It was a simple tight overall with a helmet equipped with a small glass for viewing. In general, in “Ch-1” one could do anything, but just not work. Nevertheless, he was a breakthrough. Later, before the war, Chertovsky managed to design six more models of spacesuits.

After the war, the first fighter jets began to appear, which sharply lifted the bar of maximum heights. In 1947-1950, a group of designers led by A. Boyko created the first post-war air suits, called VSS-01 and VSS-04 (high-altitude rescue suit). They were hermetic overalls made of rubberized fabric, to which fixed folding helmets and oxygen masks were attached. Excess pressure at a height was vented by a special valve.

Development start

In general, the development of spacesuits at first did not work out very well for us. The fact is that the existing achievements of the spacesuits were useless in case of depressurization of the spacecraft. And the designers have nothing to do with it - they were simply given the task of developing a protective suit designed to save the astronaut only after the landing or landing of the descent module. Among the opponents of the spacesuits there were even some of the designers of the ship - they considered the possibility of depressurization to be insignificant. Their words were confirmed by Laika’s successful flight to the GLC (hermetic cabin for animals).



Disputes could be stopped only after the Queen’s personal intervention. At the same time, only 8 months remained before Gagarin’s flight. During this time, the suit SK-1 was created

SK-1

In total, there are 3 classes of spacesuits:
• rescue suits - they serve to protect astronauts in the event of a depressurization of the cabin or with significant deviations of the parameters of its gas medium from the norm;
• suits for work in outer space on the surface of the spacecraft or near it
• suits for work on the surface of celestial bodies

SK-1 was a suit of the first category. It was used during all flights of the ships of the first series of "East"



SK-1 "worked" in tandem with a special heat-protective suit, which was put on by the astronaut under the main protective suit. The overalls were not just clothes, it was a whole engineering structure with ventilation system pipelines mounted in it, supporting the necessary thermal regime of the body and removing moisture from the respiratory products. In unforeseen conditions, the spacecraft life support system (LSS), together with the LSS cabin, “extended” the astronaut's existence by 10 days. In case of depressurization of the cabin, the transparent “visor” - the porthole of the helmet — was automatically closed and the air supply from the cylinders of the ship was turned on.

But he had a significant drawback. Its soft shell under the influence of internal overpressure always strives to take the form of a body of revolution and straighten. Bending any part of it, say, a sleeve or leg, is not so simple, and the greater the internal pressure, the more difficult it is to do it. When working in the first space suits, because of their relatively low mobility, the astronauts had to spend considerable additional efforts, which ultimately led to an increase in the intensity of metabolic processes in the body. Because of this, in turn, it was necessary to increase the mass and dimensions of the oxygen reserves, as well as the blocks of the cooling system.

A space suit SK-2 was also created. In fact, this is the same SK-1, only for women. It had a slightly different form, taking into account their physiological characteristics.

Analogue

The American counterpart to our SK-1 was a spacesuit for the Mercury ships. It was also an exceptionally rescue spacesuit and was made in 1961.



In addition to everything, it had a metallized outer layer to reflect heat rays.

Golden eagle

In mid-1964, the leaders of the Soviet space program decided on a new experiment in orbit - the first man’s exit from the spacecraft into open space. This circumstance posed a number of new technical challenges for the developers of the spacesuits. They, of course, were dictated by serious differences between the internal environment of the spacecraft and the conditions of the external space - the realm of an almost complete vacuum, harmful radiation and extreme temperatures.

The developers were assigned two main tasks:

Firstly, the spacesuit for going out into space was supposed to protect from overheating if the astronaut is on the sunny side, and, conversely, from cooling - if in the shade (the temperature difference between them is more than 100 ° C). He also had to protect from solar radiation and from meteor matter.

Secondly, to ensure maximum safety for a person, be extremely reliable and have a minimum volume and weight. But the most important thing is that with all this, the astronaut in him must be operational, i.e. move around the ship, do some work, etc.

All these requirements were implemented in the spacesuit "Golden Eagle"



By the way, starting with the "Golden Eagle" all our spacesuits began to be called bird names.

The suit was made of several layers of film with a shiny aluminum surface. The space between the layers had a specially designed gap in order to reduce heat transfer in any direction. Thermos principle - heat is not taken and not given away. In addition, the film-fabric layers were separated by a special mesh material. As a result, a very high level of thermal resistance was achieved. The astronaut's eyes were protected by a special filter made of tinted organic glass almost half a centimeter thick. He played a double role - weakened the intensity of sunlight and did not pass to the face of the biologically dangerous part of the rays of the solar spectrum.

The first spacewalk had limited tasks. Therefore, the life support system seemed relatively simple and was designed for 45 minutes of work. It was placed in a satchel with an oxygen device and cylinders with a capacity of 2 liters. A fitting for refueling and a pressure gauge window for monitoring pressure were attached to the backpack case. Air was taken from the ship, which was additionally enriched with oxygen and entered the spacesuit. The same air carried away heat, moisture, carbon dioxide and harmful impurities emitted by the astronaut. Such a system is called an open type

system. The whole system fit in a satchel measuring 520x320x120 mm, which was fastened to the back with a quick connector. In an emergency, a backup oxygen system was installed in the lock chamber, which was connected to the suit by a hose.

Analogue

An analogue for a golden eagle was a spacesuit for the Dzheminai ships.



Its ship version (I don’t know how to call it differently) was an ordinary rescue suit. The modified version was designed to work outside the spacecraft.



For this, shells of thermal and micrometeorite protection were added to the main spacesuit.

Hawk

Since 1967, flights of new Soyuz-type ships began, the fundamental difference between which and their predecessors was that they were already manned aircraft. And, therefore, the potential time of work of man and space outside the ship should have increased. Accordingly, it was impossible to be in a spacesuit all the time. He was worn only in the most crucial moments - takeoff, landing. In addition, the question arose of putting several ships into orbit, their docking, which involved operations related to the passage of people through outer space.

For these purposes, a new spacesuit was developed with a new life support system. He was called the Hawk



This suit was basically similar to the "Golden Eagle", but the differences were in a different respiratory system, which belonged to the so-called regenerative type. The respiratory mixture circulated inside the suit in a closed loop, where it was cleaned of carbon dioxide, harmful impurities, fed with oxygen and cooled. Oxygen cylinders also remained part of the system, however, the oxygen contained in them was used only to compensate for leaks and for the consumption of the astronaut. For this system, several unique units had to be created at once: an evaporative heat exchanger operating in specific zero gravity conditions; carbon dioxide absorber; an electric motor that operates safely in a clean oxygen atmosphere and creates the necessary air circulation inside the suit, and others.

To cool the astronaut's body, air cooling was used. To do this, it is necessary to drive a very large volume of gas through a spacesuit. This, in turn, requires a fan with a capacity of several hundred watts, as well as high energy costs. Yes, and a strong airflow is not very pleasant for the astronaut.

A noticeable plus was the fact that the weight of the spacesuit does not exceed 8-10 kg, and the thickness of the package of shells is minimal. This makes it possible to use it with an individual texture of cushioning seats, weakening the effect of overloads when entering orbit and descent.

In practice, the Hawk was used only once - to move from Soyuz-5 to Soyuz-4.

Analogue

I did not find a specific American counterpart to the Hawk. Partly a suit for the early Apollo seems to fit under it

Gyrfalcon

For the flight to the moon, an innovative spacesuit of the 3rd category was constructed. In the spacesuit, the astronaut had to maintain such motor and working abilities, which on the earth are considered elementary. For example, to move along the lunar surface, taking into account the fact that "walks" can occur on different terrain; to be able to stand on their feet in the event of a fall, make contact with the lunar "earth", the temperature of which varies over a very wide range (in the shade and in the light from -130 ° C to + 160 ° C); work with instruments, collect samples of lunar rocks and produce primitive drilling. The astronaut should have been given the opportunity to eat special liquid food, as well as to remove urine from the spacesuit. In short, the entire life support system was designed for more difficult working conditions than those

Given these requirements, under the direction of A. Stoklitsky, a “Krechet” spacesuit was created.



He had the so-called “semi-rigid” shell, and instead of a knapsack, an integrated life support system. It was from him that the phrase "enter the spacesuit" went. Because the astronaut entered the Gyrfalcon using the “door” on his back. The “door” housed all life support systems



The Krechet systems provided a record autonomous stay of a person on the Moon - up to 10 hours, during which the researcher could perform work with great physical exertion. For thermal cooling, a water cooling suit was first used, because water cooling is the only possible method of maintaining acceptable thermal conditions in a spacesuit during intensive work of the astronaut. In order to divert 300-500 kcal / h of heat, the water flow through the water cooling suit was 1.5-2 l / min, the required length of the cooling tubes was about 100 meters. For pumping water, a pump with an engine power of several watts was used.

At the same time as water cooling, there was a circuit for the circulation and regeneration of the air inside the suit and the removal of moisture. There was also an oxygen supply to compensate for leaks.

Analogue

This is perhaps the only case when the American counterpart is better known than ours. It was in it that Neil Armstrong stepped on the surface of the moon in 1969.



The suit was made of high-strength synthetic fabrics, metal and plastic. Under the spacesuit, the astronaut put on a light one-piece suit with sensors for biotelemetry. In addition, a special water-cooling suit was also worn under the suit, which was designed for continuous operation for 115 hours. In this nylon spandex suit, there was a system of PVC pipes with a total length of about 90 m, through which cold water circulated continuously, absorbing the heat generated by the body and taking it to an external refrigerator. Thanks to this suit, the temperature of the skin in various parts of the body did not go beyond 40 ° C.

On the palm were special wire ties, which did not allow the glove to inflate under excessive pressure in the spacesuit. To ensure the agility of working with hands on the fingers of the gloves, there were extensions-grips with which the astronaut could lift small objects.

The astronaut's helmet is made of transparent polycarbonate and had great impact strength. Its spherical shape gave the astronaut the opportunity to turn his head in any direction. Oxygen entered the helmet at a speed of 162 l / min, and the pressure seal on the left side of the helmet allowed the astronaut in a spacesuit to drink or eat food. The knapsack life support system was attached to the back of the spacesuit and on Earth, the oars were 56.625 kg (for the most meticulous - 554.925 n).

Eagle

After landing on the moon, all work on the "Krechet" ceased. However, the Orlan spacesuit was also included in the lunar program package - for orbital operations.



They returned to its development in 1969, when work began on the first orbital station. It’s the Orlan’s modifications that we used on Mir and are now using on the ISS.

Everyone knows that crews at orbital stations are changing.
However, the spacesuits that existed before were individual and did not have the ability to fit. Therefore, for each new crew member of the station it was necessary to manufacture and launch them into space, which was ineffective with the limited cargo capabilities of the Soyuz and Progress ships. However, due to the semi-rigid design in Orlan, only the spacesuit gloves that were delivered by the crew were individual, while the spacesuits themselves were constantly at the station.

To ensure mobility of the body, joints were used in the spacesuit located in the area of ​​the main joints - the shoulder, elbow, knee, ankles, fingers, etc. In addition, in subsequent modifications, hermetic bearings were used in some joints to increase mobility (for example , in the shoulder or wrist joints).

Since the first use of the Orlan on Salute-6 in 1977 until the Flooding of the World in 2001, 25 sets of Orlanes of all varieties were used in low Earth orbit. Some of them burned down along with the last Mir station. During this time, 200 exits by 42 crews were made in Orlan. Total operating time exceeded 800 hours.

The "Eagle" there are many modifications. The most interesting in my opinion is the Orlan-DMA with the installation for moving and maneuvering in outer space.



NPP Zvezda does not voice the cost of Orlan. However, in one reportage I once heard a million dollars. I could be wrong.

Analogue

American astronauts honestly and openly admit that their current spacesuits are much worse and more uncomfortable than ours. At the same time they cost 12-15 million. So that a full-fledged analogue of the current "Orlan" does not exist.

Swift

At the time of Buran’s creation, the newest Strizh rescue suit was created.



I’m not completely sure that it was him in the photograph, but it’s kind of like him. In conjunction with the "Swift" developed an ejection seat K-36RB. Specialists called the Swift the best spacesuit ever. However, with the cessation of work on the Buran ... in general, as usual in our country.

PS I apologize for the quality of the pictures, especially American spacesuits.

If I like the article, I'll try to write a post about Shuttles and Burans in a couple of days. Only, habroreditsiya, please do not prohibit space posts. And that continuation about "Flounder" I did not write.