Apollo/Skylab spacesuit: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:40, 29 November 2023

Revision as of 17:18, 29 November 2023

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The subsequent Apollo 15-17 lunar missions,<ref name="us3">{{cite book |title= US Spacesuits |author1=Kenneth S. Thomas |author2=Harold J. McMann |year= 2006 |publisher= Praxis Publishing Ltd. |___location= Chichester, UK |isbn= 0-387-27919-9 | pages = 430–431 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref> Skylab,<ref name="us4">{{cite book |title= US Spacesuits |author1=Kenneth S. Thomas |author2=Harold J. McMann |year= 2006 |publisher= Praxis Publishing Ltd. |___location= Chichester, UK |isbn= 0-387-27919-9 | pages = 432–433 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref> and [[Apollo–Soyuz]] used A7LB pressure suits.<ref name="us5">{{cite book |title= US Spacesuits |author1=Kenneth S. Thomas |author2=Harold J. McMann |year= 2006 |publisher= Praxis Publishing Ltd. |___location= Chichester, UK |isbn= 0-387-27919-9 | pages = 434–435 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref> Additionally, these pressure suits varied by program usage. For the Skylab EMU, NASA elected to use an umbilical life support system named the Astronaut Life Support Assembly.

The suits used during lunar EVAs had a weight of about {{cvt|81.6|kg|lbs}}, and under lunar surface gravity a weight of about {{cvt|13.6|kg|lbs}}.<ref name="Kluger 2018 z081">{{cite web | last=Kluger | first=Jeffrey | title=How Neil Armstrong's Moon Spacesuit Was Preserved for Centuries to Come | website=Time | date=October 12, 2018 | url=https://time.com/5422609/armstrong-spacesuit-smithsonian/ | access-date=November 29, 2023}}</ref> The low surface gravity and suit pressurization put considerable constraints on its use.<ref name="Nast 2013 v237">{{cite web | last=Nast | first=Condé | title=How Do You Pick Up Something on the Moon? | website=WIRED | date=December 9, 2013 | url=https://www.wired.com/2013/12/how-do-you-pick-up-something-on-the-moon/ | access-date=November 29, 2023}}</ref>

== Basic design <!--DO NOT capitalize the word "design" here -- see the Manual of Style---> ==

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[[Image:EV-A7LB.png|thumb|200px|left]]

For the last three Apollo lunar flights [[Apollo 15|Apollos 15]], [[Apollo 16|16]], and [[Apollo 17|17]], the spacesuits were extensively revised. The pressure suits were called A7LB, which came in two versions. The Extra-vehicular (EV) version was a new mid-entry suit that allowed greater mobility and easier operations with the lunar rover. The A7LB EV suits were designed for longer duration J-series missions, in which three EVAs would be conducted and the [[Lunar Roving Vehicle]] (LRV) would be used for the first time. Originally developed by ILC-Dover as the "A9L," but given the designation "A7LB" by NASA,<ref name="isbn0-387-27919-9">{{cite book |author1=Harold J. McMann |author2=Thomas, Kenneth P. |title=US Spacesuits (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) |publisher=Praxis |isbn=0-387-27919-9 |pages=171–172}}</ref> the new suit incorporated two new joints at the neck and waist. The waist joint was added to allow the astronaut to sit on the LRV and the neck joint was to provide additional visibility while driving the LRV. Because of the waist joint, the six life-support connectors were rearranged from the parallel pattern to a set of two "triangles," and the up-and-down back zipper was revised and relocated.<ref name='EMU Development' /> The "zipper" is actually a misnomer in that the A7L entry was through two zippers sewn over each other. The inner zipper had rubber teeth and provided sealing. The outer (externally visible) zipper was a conventional metal toothed slider for mechanical restraint. The A7LB had two pairs of such zipper sets that intersected on the right side of the suit above the waist joint. Opening the suit required undoing a clasp that held the zipper sets together.<ref>{{cite web|title=Apollo Operations Handbook - Extravehicular Mobility Unit|url=https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/alsj-EMU1.pdf|pagepages=2-502–50|publisher=NASA|date=March 1971|access-date=April 4, 2023}}</ref>

In addition, the EVA backpacks were modified to carry more oxygen, [[lithium hydroxide]] (LiOH), more power, and cooling water for the longer EVAs.<ref name='EMU Development' /> While NASA wished these revisions to be accomplished without a volume increase, that was not possible. NASA allowed a minor protrusion on one side for an auxiliary water tank resulting in the last configuration of backpack. To maximize the return of lunar samples, the main module of both the Apollo 11,12,14 and 15-17 backpacks were left on the Moon.