How NASA tests its astronauts’ spacesuits

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck

A spacesuit is an astronaut’s best friend, keeping the person wearing it from succumbing to the harsh conditions that exist beyond the Earth’s orbit, and to ensure that they work properly. Each one of these protective suits undergoes a series of rigorous tests at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Earlier this week, a team of engineers and technicians began one such trial, taking part in what is known as a Vacuum Pressure Integrated Suit Test to make sure that recent alternations to the suit can meet test and design standards for use on future Orion spacecraft launches.

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As the US space agency explained, the spacesuits are connected to life support systems during the test. The air is then removed from the 11-foot thermal vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center to gauge how well they would perform in real-life conditions similar to this.

Known as the Modified Advanced Crew Escape Suit, it is described as a closed-loop version of the launch and entry suits that were used by space shuttle astronauts. The suits will contain all of the functions required to support life, and are being designed to enable spacewalks. In addition, they are being designed to help keep astronauts alive should their spacecraft lose pressure.

Lying down on the job

Images of the test show the NASA engineers lying down, but as Gizmodo points out, the photos are misleading, as “the experience isn’t as relaxing as it looks.” The research that they are participating in is essential to the future of the American space program, and it is just one of the four tests the suits will undergo before they get the thumbs-up for use in deep space missions.

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The 11 Foot Chamber is, as its name would suggest, is an 11 foot (3.4 meter) diameter and 19 foot (5.8 meter) long test site that is outfitted with dual airlock compartments used for testing in a vacuum environment and for spacesuit development. A third, smaller compartment located in the chamber is used for reduced pressure and manned/unmanned testing.

The Johnson Space Center is also home to the 20 Foot Chamber, a vacuum chamber with two airlocks, a rapid decompression chamber, and removable bulkhead on the outerlock compartment. The center also hosts Chamber B, a test facility used for human testing in a vacuum environment that contains a traversing monorail that provides weight relief to one suited crewmember at a time.

Other test areas at the Houston-based facility include the Dual Glove Box Thermal Vacuum Chamber, which is located inside the 11-Foot Chamber’s outer airlock and allows the use of EMU arms and gloves for test operations, and the Space Station (ISS) Airlock, a human-rated, high fidelity spacewalk hardware testing, certification, and flight crew training facility.

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These testing areas are crucial to making sure that an astronaut’s gear can survive space travel – especially the spacesuits that these men and women count on to keep them safe once they enter the vacuum of outer space. After all, as NASA explains, they keep astronauts from getting too hot or too cold, provides air, and protects them from space dust, and shields their eyes from bright sunlight with a special gold-lined visor.

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