1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm ad executive producer with I Heart Radio, 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech and I've promised you 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: that I would have another follow up to our space 6 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:29,479 Speaker 1: Suits episode which published on Monday, and this is it. 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 1: So on Monday's episode, we looked at the early history 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,239 Speaker 1: of space suits, from the era of flight suits before 9 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: the Space Race to the suits worn by cosmonauts and 10 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: astronauts up to the beginning of the Apollo program. And 11 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: I want to mention a couple of things before we continue. 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: One is that the Soviets stopped using flight suits for 13 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: a while in their so used capsules when they were 14 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: first doing those, they decided to allow cosmonauts more freedom 15 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: of movement and so they weren't wearing pressure suits and 16 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: uh and and your rescue suits for a couple of missions. 17 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: They did have a suit that was a more advanced 18 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: version of the Burri Cutt suit that was used for 19 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: the first Soviet e v A, which was only used 20 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: up between two se Us missions where the two capsules 21 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: docked with each other, and the that cosmonauts were able 22 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: to meet one another when when they launched two missions 23 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,919 Speaker 1: in close succession. Beyond that, they went without pressure suits 24 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: until there was a tragic accident in which there was 25 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: a depressurization, a rapid depressurization incident that resulted in the 26 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: death of all three cosmonauts aboard a mission. That then 27 00:01:55,720 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: prompted the USSR to have a new requirement or the 28 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: Soviets to wear a pressure suit on the way up, 29 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 1: and that became the so called cosmos are so called 30 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: k and that basic suit has been in use ever since. 31 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 1: So it's a pressure suit that's meant to be worn 32 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: inside a space craft, particularly during critical elements like if 33 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: you are taking off or landing, not necessarily, uh, in 34 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: just the normal operations. Once you're out in space, you 35 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: can get out of the suit. But yeah, that's still 36 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: to this day the suits that are being used by 37 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: Russia no longer the Soviet Union. Obviously. Another thing I 38 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: wanted to mention is that while the space suit evolved 39 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: from the flight suit, I don't mean to suggest that 40 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,840 Speaker 1: flight suits stopped evolving in that process. They definitely kept 41 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 1: evolving over time. So we had separate branches of evolution 42 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: here and the flight suits of today are incredibly sophisticated 43 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: and in some ways similar to space suits, but not identical. 44 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,639 Speaker 1: And I also mentioned a couple of materials in that 45 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: previous episode, like no max, but I didn't really go 46 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: into detail about what that is. So no Max is 47 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: a proprietary material that the company DuPont developed in the 48 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, and it is similar in many ways to nylon, 49 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: but it's a little more rigid, and most importantly, it 50 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: is fire and heat resistant, so it's been used in 51 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: uniforms and outfits meant for all sorts of folks who 52 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: work in dangerous environments and situations, like race car drivers, firefighters, 53 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: and astronauts. No Mix is a polymer which is a 54 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: type of long chain molecule where you have the same 55 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: repeated units chained together over and over and over again. 56 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: But it's a special kind of polymer. It's called an 57 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: aromatic polyamide polymer. And you might think that means this 58 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: fabric must smell nice, but it's not that kind of aromatic. 59 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: In chemistry, aromatic means that the molecules in the chain 60 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: connect as a series of rings, rather than as a 61 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: straight line of atoms that are chained together, and the 62 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: word polyamide means that these strings of molecules connect together 63 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 1: to form chains. Of these chains and the molecular structure 64 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: of no mix makes it a fairly tough material. In fact, kevlar, 65 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: which was also developed by DuPont, is a type of 66 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: aromatic polyomide, although it is in many ways very different 67 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: from nomex, but it shares some of the same molecular 68 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: structural components. So no Max has some interesting properties. One 69 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: is that no MAX will burn if it is exposed 70 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: to a heat source and you know there's oxygen and 71 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. If the triangle is there, 72 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 1: no MAX will burn. But if it is removed from 73 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 1: the heat source, then no Max will just stop burning. 74 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,919 Speaker 1: Thus it is is flame resistant, is not flame proof, 75 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: but is flame resistant. Also, it doesn't conduct heat very well, 76 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: so a suit of nomas can serve as a layer 77 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: of protection against heat. All right, So let's get back 78 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,160 Speaker 1: to our story. So, as I mentioned in our last 79 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: episode on this situation on the subject, I should say, 80 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: the space suits developed for the Gemini or Geminy project 81 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,039 Speaker 1: were intended to serve as a sort of stop gap 82 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: for the early part of the Apollo program. There were 83 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: planned missions that would test various elements of the Apollo 84 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: spacecraft and the launch vehicles and space suits and all 85 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff, and some of the early ones 86 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: would not involve going beyond orbit or exiting the capsule. So, 87 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: in other words, the Apollo program, while the goal was 88 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: to get to the Moon, it's not like we were 89 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: supposed to be aiming straight for the Moon right at 90 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: the get go. It was all in stages so that 91 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: we could learn more, use what we learned to build 92 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: upon that, and then continue from there. So the A 93 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: one C space suit, which was based off the Gemin 94 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: E or Gemini G three C model suit, was to 95 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: serve for this first block of Apollo missions, also known 96 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,679 Speaker 1: as Block one. Now, I think I might have said 97 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: that was based off the G four C suit in 98 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: Monday's episode, and if I did, that's totally a mistake 99 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: on my part. That's on me. The G four C 100 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: suit was the Gemini suit that was designed for astronauts 101 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: to go on spacewalks on extra vehicular activities or e 102 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: v A s. The G three C suit had fewer 103 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: layers of the G four and was slightly more maneuverable 104 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: as a result of that, and it was only intended 105 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: to be used inside of spacecraft. It wasn't rated to 106 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 1: be used outside, So the A one C was similar 107 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 1: in design to that G three C. The original first 108 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: mission had the designation of A S two O four 109 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: and it was supposed to see Gus Grissom, who had 110 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: actually played a really big part in the development of 111 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: space suits, and Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee test 112 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: the Apollo capsule in Earth orbit in a mission that 113 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: was planned to last up to two weeks. But tragically, 114 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: during a launch simulation test, there was this intense fire 115 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: that erupted inside the capsule and all three astronauts were 116 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 1: strapped in in the capsule, and so they all three 117 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 1: died as a result of this. The A one C 118 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: suit was made out of nylon, which kind of lacked 119 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: the heat and flame resistance that you would find with 120 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: no MAX and it appeared as though the astronauts had 121 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: attempted to follow emergency procedures to open the hatch of 122 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: the capsule to escape, but they were not able to 123 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: do so. The intensity of the fire kept the rescue 124 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: crew at bay for several crucial minutes uh and this 125 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: was exacerbated by a fear that that fire could put 126 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: intentionally lead to an explosion, perhaps even involving the launch 127 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: vehicle in addition to the capsule itself. So this was 128 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: a terrible tragedy. In the wake of that loss, NASA 129 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: canceled the rest of what was supposed to be the 130 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: Block one crude missions, as in the missions with cruise 131 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: in them. And as they crude, I do mean c 132 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: R E W E D, not crude as in c 133 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: R U D E. The A one C suit would 134 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: never see use in outer space, and from that tragedy, 135 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: NASA saw the need to make sure that the future 136 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: space suits provided better protection against heat and fire. The 137 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: second block of Apollo missions would need suits designed for 138 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: extra vehicular activity, because again the goal was to go 139 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: to the Moon and to get out and walk around. 140 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: So these suits would consist I mean, it really depends 141 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: on how you look at it, but two main components. 142 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: But honestly, that's you could You could argue that the 143 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: space suit was two components, or you could argue it 144 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: was lots of them. But you had the pressure suit 145 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: assembly or the p S A, and you had the 146 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: Portable Life Support System or p l s S, which 147 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: is also known as the backpack because it was worn 148 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 1: that way. Collectively, this entire get up was called the 149 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: extra vehicular Mobility Unit or EMU. But we can break 150 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: this down even further, So let's get to talking about 151 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: these different components. What made them up all these different layers, 152 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: because there's a lot to go through. First, you had 153 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: the underwear. Now, as one source put it, it was 154 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: quote heavy duty space boxer briefs end quote that we're 155 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: also and I quote highly absorbent, and they had a 156 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: urine collection component to them, which I will get to 157 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: a bit later, because, oh boy, when you think about 158 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 1: the people who pioneered space travel and you realize some 159 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,319 Speaker 1: of the stuff they had to go through, you really 160 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: get a different kind of appreciation for some of their 161 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: let's let's call it sacrifices, you know, as far as 162 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: comfort and sanitation go. Next came an LCG or liquid 163 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: cooling garment. So this undergarment suit was made out of 164 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 1: nylon and it used water in clear plastic tubing to 165 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:29,959 Speaker 1: cool the astronauts. So imagine a suit that has this 166 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: this tubing. It's kind of like a water cooled PC 167 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: in a way. You have this what the system of 168 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 1: tubes that transports water all over the body of the 169 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: astronaut in order to carry heat away from the astronauts. 170 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: So the air conditioned suits of the Mercury and Gemini 171 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:52,239 Speaker 1: eras really failed to keep astronauts at a comfortable temperature. 172 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,559 Speaker 1: It became clear that astronauts were putting forth a lot 173 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:00,040 Speaker 1: more effort in their activities in space and generating a 174 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,439 Speaker 1: lot more heat. And then the fact that these suits 175 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:05,839 Speaker 1: were so good at insulating meant that heat would get 176 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 1: trapped in there as well as the heat of just 177 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: the various electrical components inside the suit that was adding 178 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,320 Speaker 1: to it, and air conditioning just wasn't cutting it. So 179 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: the new system would circulate water through these tubes under 180 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:19,680 Speaker 1: the suit to carry body heat away so that the 181 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: astronauts didn't get too hot and sweaty. Obviously, sweating was 182 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:25,680 Speaker 1: a problem too, because if you're wearing a helmet, that 183 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 1: sweat can start making the helmet fog up, and then 184 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: you've also got water vapor issues. So this was all necessary. 185 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: Stuff Connected to the LCG was a bio belt which 186 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 1: was made out of a material called cotton duck. It's 187 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:45,959 Speaker 1: it's kind of like canvas, like heavy canvas. It feels 188 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: kind of like that. And the belt included pockets in 189 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: which the various sensors and tools that were used to 190 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: monitor astronaut health were located. Uh These included signal processors 191 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: to handle stuff like an e c G signal or 192 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: an electro cardiograph signal, and cables connecting the sensors to 193 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: the equipment in the belt had to be snapped on 194 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: to the LCG underneath with other sensors making direct contact 195 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,439 Speaker 1: with the astronauts. And next came a pressure suit called 196 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:22,000 Speaker 1: the Integrated Thermal micro Meteoroid Garment or i t m G, 197 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: which was made up of three major layers. The innermost 198 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,559 Speaker 1: layer was made of a lightweight nylon and it included 199 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:35,440 Speaker 1: vents um. The middle layer was neo preen coated nylon, 200 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: which was designed to keep pressure on the astronaut to 201 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: help them manage the forces of acceleration without blacking out, 202 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: and was you know, kind of an air tight sort 203 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,719 Speaker 1: of layer. The outermost layer was a tougher layer of 204 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:52,440 Speaker 1: nylon designed to restrain the pressurized layers so that they 205 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: didn't balloon out and restrict movement too much. Remember, there's 206 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: no pressure out in space, so if you have a 207 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:03,080 Speaker 1: lot of inter a pressure in your system, it's naturally 208 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: going to expand in an environmental low pressure. So this 209 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: was meant to curtail that a little bit. The I 210 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: T MG also had integrated boots, so it's kind of 211 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: like footy pajamas, but for space. Then there were interwoven 212 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: layers of MILAR and dacron that went on top of this. 213 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: So milar is a type of polyester film also known 214 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:31,679 Speaker 1: as biaxually oriented polyethylene tariff fyllite. And I feel like 215 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: Daffy Duck trying to say all that, and I know 216 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: I butchered it. The this material has some really useful properties. 217 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: It's got a really high melting point, it's got really 218 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: good tensile strength, and it is an electrical insulator. Those 219 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: are all very useful, and it can also serve as 220 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: an effective thermal reflector, meaning it can reflect heat as 221 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: well as other types of radiation. Dacron is a type 222 00:13:56,360 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: of polyester fabric also made by the Dupot company, which 223 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 1: in fact also made milar. And it's a material that 224 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 1: doesn't retain moisture, which also makes it resistant to stuff 225 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: like mold and mildew. And it's often used in upholstery 226 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: for furniture for those reasons, so you could very well 227 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:16,320 Speaker 1: have stuff in your home right now that's made of 228 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: the same material that was part of space suits. Next 229 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: came a couple of layers of a material called Capton 230 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: K A P T O N, and once again the 231 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 1: DuPont company was responsible for the development of Captain, which 232 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: is a polymide film that can remain stable across a 233 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: very wide range of temperatures, including the extreme temperatures that 234 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: astronauts might experience on a spacewalk. NASA would also use 235 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: Captain and layers in various spacecraft over the years for 236 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 1: that very same reason. Then, the outermost layers had coatings 237 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: of taflon on them, and they were made not by DuPont, 238 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 1: by a company called kim Mores, which was a company 239 00:14:55,400 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: that spun off from DuPont Golli. But this was to 240 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 1: protect the suit and obviously the astronauts inside the suits 241 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: from scrapes, and it was also capable of was standing 242 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: incredible temperatures and was given the name Beta cloth. A 243 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: lot of stuff on space suits would be made up 244 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: of Beta cloth because of how resistant it was too 245 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: high temperatures I've got more to say, in fact, a 246 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: lot more to say about the Apollo suits. But first 247 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break. Okay. I gave a quick 248 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: rundown on the general layers of the space suit. But 249 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: the entrance to this thing, if you needed to get 250 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: into one, was through the back of the suit, and 251 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: there was this heavy duty zipper that that sealed it 252 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 1: all up. And so you would on Earth have people 253 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: helping you get into this thing, because it's pretty intricate. 254 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: You would have to make a lot of connections between 255 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: the LCG suit, remember that's the one with all the 256 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: little water tubes in it, to connect directly to this 257 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: other suit that you wore on top of it. So 258 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: it's not just like throwing an extra layer on, right, 259 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: It's not like putting a jacket on top of a sweater, 260 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 1: only it would be more like if your sweater had 261 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,240 Speaker 1: to connect directly to your jacket so that you can 262 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: get oxygen and water and that kind of stuff. So 263 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: very complicated, and to get in you needed to kind 264 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: of enter with your shoulders and hips kind of aligned 265 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: together and entered it more or less the same way. 266 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: So you would have this this space suit essentially unfolded 267 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 1: as you were getting in and moving your arms into 268 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: the sleeves and your legs into the legs and feet 269 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: of the suit, because remember the suit itself does have 270 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 1: its own integrated boots. It was tricky to do even 271 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: with help, and obviously once you got out into space, 272 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 1: it was going to be much trickier. Once inside the suit, 273 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: the astronaut would need to connect the various elements between 274 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: the LCG, the bio belt, and the I t MG 275 00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: that outer suit, and that sounds like it was probably 276 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 1: a really tricky process to me. Then the astronaut would 277 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 1: use a long essentially a ribbon attached to the zipper 278 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:25,119 Speaker 1: and pull the zipper up and around. Uh So the 279 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: zipper would go from the back of the neck all 280 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:30,960 Speaker 1: the way down and around the bottom of the crotch, 281 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: So to zip up, you would have to grab this 282 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: this ribbon and kind of stretch your arms and everything 283 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: in order to be able to pull that zipper up 284 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,359 Speaker 1: and around. You could. Obviously if you had help that 285 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: would change things dramatically, but if you were doing it 286 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:47,720 Speaker 1: by yourself, it was a heck of a thing. And 287 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,120 Speaker 1: once in the suit, the astronaut would then put on 288 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,679 Speaker 1: the communications carrier assembly a k a. The snoopy cap. 289 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 1: This was a head covering that included the communications equipment 290 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: like the microphone and headphones that the astronaut would need 291 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: in order to communicate with the rest of their crew 292 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,120 Speaker 1: as well as those on mission control back on Earth. 293 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 1: And this would plug into the main suit as well, 294 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:15,360 Speaker 1: so you would have this head covering that connected directly 295 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: to the rest of the suit. Then you had a 296 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: pair of gloves that interlocked with the arms of the suit, 297 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:25,440 Speaker 1: and there are actually two different sets of gloves. One 298 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: set was used inside the spacecraft and had hands made 299 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: of rubber, but for e V A missions, if you 300 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,399 Speaker 1: were to go out on say a lunar walk or 301 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: a spacewalk, you would wear a totally different set of 302 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:43,879 Speaker 1: gloves that had silicone fingertips. And then the rest of 303 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 1: the gloves were made of a fabric that was a 304 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: type of stainless steel called chrome are. And the gloves 305 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 1: also extended to cover the locking mechanism at the wrists 306 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:57,920 Speaker 1: for the the e v A version, because they wanted 307 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: to make sure that the metal in that that locking 308 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: mechanism was kept insulated in case otherwise when exposed to 309 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: space it might heat up or cool down too quickly 310 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:14,720 Speaker 1: and become brittle or potentially cause harm to the astronaut directly, 311 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:18,919 Speaker 1: but you know, inside the suit. Finally, you had a 312 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: pressure helmet to put on, so you already have the 313 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:24,160 Speaker 1: head covering, but then you had to put a helmet 314 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,199 Speaker 1: on on top of that. This was made of polycarbonate 315 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:29,959 Speaker 1: and in the Apollo days it was essentially like a 316 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: clear bubble style helmet. When going out on the Moon, 317 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 1: the astronauts had to add in an element called the 318 00:19:36,119 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: Lunar extra Vehicular Visor Assembly or l e v A LEVA, 319 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: which included a sun visor and components that would protect 320 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: the neck locking mechanism from temperatures, kind of the way 321 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: that the gloves had to protect the wrist locking areas. 322 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: The helmet had the same sort of thing for e 323 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:58,239 Speaker 1: v a's and there were also extra lunar boots that 324 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: we need to put on on top up of your suits, 325 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,439 Speaker 1: integrated boots as well, so over shoes really, so you 326 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: had your specific gauntlets or gloves that you had to 327 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,199 Speaker 1: put on, your specific overshoes you had to add to 328 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: your suit, and you had this special helmet assembly that 329 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: you had to add on before you would leave the 330 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: lunar module in the case of a lunar landing. And 331 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:24,879 Speaker 1: I mentioned the all the connectors on the suit. The 332 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:29,359 Speaker 1: front of the suit actually had six different connectors that 333 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: would attach to different life support systems. And you might wonder, well, 334 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 1: why do you have you know, so many, like why 335 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:39,880 Speaker 1: are there six? Like you would think, oh, you really 336 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,480 Speaker 1: just need maybe three or four, right, Like you would 337 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,760 Speaker 1: need one for oxygen intake, you would need one to 338 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: take carbon dioxide away. You would need one to help 339 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: circulate the water, maybe two to to circulate the water. 340 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,120 Speaker 1: So now we're up to what four? Well, then maybe 341 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: you need one more for electricity, possibly right if you 342 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:04,200 Speaker 1: didn't have like an onboard battery. But you actually had 343 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,439 Speaker 1: more than that on this suit. And the reason was 344 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,160 Speaker 1: that the portable life support system that I'll talk about 345 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: a bit later in this episode, Uh, it would only 346 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,800 Speaker 1: work in the vacuum of space. So when you put 347 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,120 Speaker 1: it on before you went out onto the moon, you're 348 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:23,119 Speaker 1: on the lunar module. Yeah, you've got your your suited up, 349 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: you've got your your p l SS on your back. 350 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: It would not provide life support until you depressurized the 351 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 1: lunar module and then we're ready to go out on 352 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,399 Speaker 1: the Moon. So in order for you to continue to 353 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: have life support, you would have a connection directly to 354 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,879 Speaker 1: the lunar module that would provide life support to you, 355 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: and you would also have connections to the p L 356 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 1: S S at the same time. Only the lunar module 357 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:52,159 Speaker 1: would act as your life support. Once it was depressurized 358 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: and you were ready to go out, then you could 359 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 1: switch over to the p L S S and you 360 00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 1: could disconnect the connectors to your suit that we're connecting 361 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 1: you to the lunar module. So it was, you know, 362 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: just an important element that was necessary in order to 363 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 1: have this seamless transition of life support from one source 364 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,440 Speaker 1: to another on Earth. Before connecting up to the spacecraft, 365 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,919 Speaker 1: the astronauts would actually carry with them a portable ventilator 366 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,720 Speaker 1: unit connected to their suits, kind of like carrying around 367 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: your your own personal air conditioner in a way. This 368 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:30,159 Speaker 1: provided some oxygen and cooling capabilities, but once they were 369 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:33,919 Speaker 1: getting into the Apollo capsule, they would disconnect from these 370 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:38,560 Speaker 1: portable handheld units and then connect to the the Apollo 371 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 1: capsule itself to provide life support. These suits were really big, 372 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: they were really bulky. They were super heavy. I mean, 373 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: depending on what variation you're looking at. Like the light 374 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,919 Speaker 1: one before you had all the extra stuff on, was 375 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: weighing in and around sixty two pounds. That was just 376 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 1: for the version that you would wear inside the capsule 377 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: without any extra stuff on it. If you were to 378 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:05,200 Speaker 1: take an E V A, you'd be looking at weights 379 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: going up to seventy six pounds. If you're going all 380 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:10,720 Speaker 1: the way out to the Moon with all the additional units, 381 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,879 Speaker 1: all the additional components, you're looking at around a hundred 382 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: eighty pounds of suit you're wearing. However, keep in mind 383 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,439 Speaker 1: you're in space. So when you're in space space like 384 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: floating in orbit or whatever, you're in micro gravity, so 385 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:29,120 Speaker 1: you're not really floating, you're falling, but you're in micro gravity, 386 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,920 Speaker 1: so you don't have to deal with weight so much. 387 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: You have to deal with mass, but weight is not 388 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: so much of an issue. And then, of course on 389 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:39,400 Speaker 1: the Moon gravity is one sixth that of Earth's, so 390 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,200 Speaker 1: while you'd be wearing a very bulky suit, it would 391 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 1: not feel super heavy to you. Speaking of the Moon, 392 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: Neil Armstrong's suit had the designation A seven L and 393 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,640 Speaker 1: the serial number zero five six and according to the Smithsonian, 394 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:57,200 Speaker 1: the estimated cost for his suit was one hundred thousand 395 00:23:57,359 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: dollars at the time. That was a lot of money 396 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: back then. If we were to adjust it for inflation, 397 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:04,520 Speaker 1: that would mean that the suit was more than half 398 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,119 Speaker 1: a million dollars to put together, which is a pretty 399 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 1: expensive suit, you know. I mean, I've looked at some 400 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: suits that are fairly expensive and said no way, but 401 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: they were not in a half million dollar range. I 402 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 1: can tell you that. Also, according to the Smithsonian, the 403 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: space suits were handbuilt. They were stitched by hand with 404 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 1: careful precision, as even the tiniest error could result in catastrophe. Obviously, 405 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 1: you need these suits to be strong, resilient. They need 406 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: to be able to keep pressure. They needed to not 407 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:42,119 Speaker 1: allow oxygen to just escape the suit, so it was 408 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: critically important that all these elements were put together with 409 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:50,560 Speaker 1: the utmost precision. Now, these suits were the most sophisticated 410 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,359 Speaker 1: space suits to date. And on the front part of 411 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:55,960 Speaker 1: the torso, like I said, there were those six connectors 412 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: that related to the life support. There was a water 413 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 1: connector and electrical connector, and then you had the four 414 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,959 Speaker 1: gas connectors for oxygen, which, as I mentioned, were doubled 415 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:11,160 Speaker 1: up so that you could go from the Lunar Module 416 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,959 Speaker 1: Life Support system to the p l s S system. Uh. 417 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: It also had lots of pockets, like I like to 418 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: think that the first aster not to try one of 419 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:24,360 Speaker 1: these on yelled. It has pockets, because there were pockets 420 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 1: for like everything, very specific pockets, like there was a 421 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 1: specific pocket for pencils and pen lights, and a specific 422 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 1: pocket for scissors, and there even was a pocket for sunglasses. 423 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: It had a pressure relief valve on the left arm 424 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,000 Speaker 1: of the suit and a pressure gauge on the right arm. 425 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: Fancy stuff. But that's the lowdown on the Apollo suits. 426 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: And now we need to talk about something else, a 427 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:59,440 Speaker 1: delicate subject, one that ended up being critically important. Uh. 428 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:01,600 Speaker 1: And then it's about when you have to go to 429 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 1: the bathroom. See, the Gemini missions were in part a 430 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: stepping stone towards the Apollo missions that would take astronauts 431 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,480 Speaker 1: to the Moon, and those trips have to last a 432 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,160 Speaker 1: good long time. The Gemini missions, like the longest one, 433 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 1: lasted almost two weeks, sooner or later, you gotta go 434 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 1: to the bathroom. But when you're wearing a space suit 435 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: like the ones I've described, and you're in a tight capsule, 436 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 1: doesn't have a lot of space, and it can take 437 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 1: a lot of time to get in and out of 438 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 1: that space suit. And also this capsule, by the way, 439 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 1: does not have a toilet. How do you go to 440 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:45,680 Speaker 1: the bathroom? The answer, as it turns out, ain't pretty folks. 441 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 1: So I'd say prepare yourselves. But I'm not sure anything's 442 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,800 Speaker 1: gonna prepare you for what's to come. So let's let's 443 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,399 Speaker 1: take a step back before we get into it. Because 444 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,360 Speaker 1: way back when Alan Shepherd was getting ready to go 445 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: into space to become the first American in space, not 446 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,359 Speaker 1: the first person, your Garin had done it already for 447 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union a month earlier, but when he was 448 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,199 Speaker 1: ready to go into space and be the first American 449 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: in space, and a Mercury space capsule, and remember Mercury 450 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 1: was just before Jim and I, which again was before Apollo. 451 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 1: He was sitting there on his back inside the capsule 452 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,160 Speaker 1: on top of the launch vehicle on the launch pad 453 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,240 Speaker 1: when he really had to go pee. Now, this mission 454 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: was only supposed to last fifteen minutes from launch to touchdown, 455 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 1: which meant that everyone at NASA figured there'd be no 456 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: need to worry about this kind of thing, because it's 457 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 1: fifteen minutes. You can hold it for fifteen minutes. But 458 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,639 Speaker 1: Shepard had been strapped into his suit and been in 459 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: the Mercury capsule for several hours while waiting for these 460 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:57,439 Speaker 1: various delays to clear up, where you know, the launch 461 00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,960 Speaker 1: had been set back a couple of hours, and making 462 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 1: matters worse, he had had four cups of coffee the 463 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 1: morning of his launch, so naturally, as those delays began 464 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: to pile up, he began to feel the call of nature, 465 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:15,199 Speaker 1: and the call was urgent. He had to pee. Well, 466 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,720 Speaker 1: there was no getting out of the suit because as 467 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: tiny as the Apollo capsule was, which carried three astronauts 468 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 1: in it at a time, the Mercury, which was a 469 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: single astronaut capsule, was particularly tiny. Essentially, it was you know, 470 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 1: a chair surrounded by electronic components in very tight quarters. 471 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: There was no getting out of the capsule, at least 472 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: not without scrapping the whole mission. So he just you know, 473 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: decided he had to go with the flow as and 474 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,479 Speaker 1: he needed to pee in his suit. Actually, he actually 475 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: had to request permission to do this because no one 476 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: had really thought about this yet, and they weren't into 477 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: really sure that this was going to be safe to do. 478 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 1: I mean, you're talking about a suit that also has 479 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:09,760 Speaker 1: components that attached to life support. There's a lot of 480 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:15,960 Speaker 1: electronic equipment there. So this was a new and urgent problem. 481 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,480 Speaker 1: And reportedly an engineer named Gordon Cooper was on the 482 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,960 Speaker 1: receiving end of this request, which will become important later. 483 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: And this is the sort of stuff in history books 484 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 1: that you tend to not discover. They tend to leave 485 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,680 Speaker 1: this part out. But he got permission to see two matters, 486 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: and he wet himself before his flight because he had 487 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: no other option. And keep in mind he was seated 488 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: with his you know, his back is is to the ground, right, 489 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 1: because you're seated in a where you're you're facing straight up, 490 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 1: So it all just kind of pooled behind him. Yeah. 491 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: Not pleasant. Well, when we come back, we'll talk a 492 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: little bit about how NASA decided to try and tackle 493 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 1: this potentially crappy problem. But first let's take a quick break. 494 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:21,520 Speaker 1: So what was NASA's solution to this problem after Shepherd's 495 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 1: historic and damp flight. Well, they created a urine collection device. 496 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:33,800 Speaker 1: So the astronauts at that time we're all male. So 497 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: the idea was just kind of secure a condom style 498 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: containment bag, you know, around the downstairs mix up area. 499 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 1: And John Glenn on his mission, generated more than two 500 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:55,320 Speaker 1: pints of p in four hours. Impressive. But wait, there's more. 501 00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:00,080 Speaker 1: For the final Mercury mission, astronaut Gordon Cooper was to 502 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: be in orbit for more than twenty four hours, and 503 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 1: so NASA designed a system that included the in suit 504 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: urine collection bag that was in turn going to eventually 505 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: be incorporated into the heavy duty space boxer briefs that 506 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 1: I talked about before. And extending from this bag was 507 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,880 Speaker 1: a plastic tube that ended in a quick connector. Ah. 508 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,959 Speaker 1: There was a fly on the suit, like a zipper 509 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,400 Speaker 1: fly on the front of the suit, so Cooper could 510 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: unzip a suit, pull out this tube with a connector 511 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 1: on the end of it, then attach a line with 512 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:43,720 Speaker 1: the other half of the connector to it. This line 513 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:47,120 Speaker 1: also had a pump attached to it. Cooper could activate 514 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:50,600 Speaker 1: that pump by hand, and then he would pump the 515 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 1: p out of the in suit bag through this line 516 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:57,840 Speaker 1: to a collection bag, and then he was supposed to 517 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,480 Speaker 1: put the collection bag under his seat. Because NASA was 518 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 1: really interested in learning more about that p and that 519 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:09,000 Speaker 1: was the first space toilet sort of. It was called 520 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 1: the Mercury Atlas nine or m A nine ur nation 521 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:18,640 Speaker 1: system glamorous right, And you might remember earlier in this 522 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: episode I said that Gordon Cooper was the person who 523 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 1: was actually on the other end of the communications channel 524 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: when Al Shepherd had to request permission to pe in 525 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 1: his suit for that first Mercury mission. Well, on Cooper's flight, 526 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:36,560 Speaker 1: Shepherd was the guy who was on the other end 527 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 1: of the communications channel, and he actually played a little 528 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: bit of a prank on on Cooper. Shepherd went to 529 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,000 Speaker 1: the capsule before Cooper was to board it and put 530 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 1: a little toilet plunger in the seat of the capsule 531 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 1: with the tags attached that said removed before flight. Just 532 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 1: kind of a fun story of astronauts rasing each other. 533 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,600 Speaker 1: But the GYM and I project proved that even more 534 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:06,000 Speaker 1: thought was going to have to be put forward to this, 535 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:09,640 Speaker 1: because the longest of the Gemini missions was to last 536 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:13,960 Speaker 1: two weeks in space. While NASA tried putting astronauts on 537 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:17,280 Speaker 1: a diet that would hopefully produce the least amount of 538 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:22,560 Speaker 1: solid waste, well, sometimes the best laid plans just freaking 539 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,640 Speaker 1: go aglay, don't they. Well, the hope was that by 540 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 1: using these foods with a very low fiber content, they 541 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:32,000 Speaker 1: would just you know, avoid the need for the astronauts 542 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 1: to have that type of evacuation. They could pee into 543 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 1: the bags, but hopefully they would not need to poop. 544 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: But um, that would not be the case. Now, they 545 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:47,160 Speaker 1: did have a slightly more sophisticated urine collection device which, 546 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:49,479 Speaker 1: on casual glance, because I looked at a picture, this 547 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,480 Speaker 1: thing kind of was like a cross between a lightsaber 548 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:55,720 Speaker 1: and a set of bagpipes. And I know that sounds confusing, 549 00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:58,120 Speaker 1: but just imagine a device that at one end has 550 00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:01,960 Speaker 1: a condom fits over the astronaut operating equipment. Keeping in 551 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,360 Speaker 1: mind that again at this point in history, all the 552 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:08,400 Speaker 1: astronauts were mail and then through a series of valves, 553 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:13,040 Speaker 1: the there was a connection to a collections bag to 554 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: pick up all the p and the astronauts were meant 555 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 1: to store these bags of p under their seats or 556 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:24,360 Speaker 1: actually to use them to vent them out into space. 557 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:28,880 Speaker 1: You would actually connect the bag to a connector on 558 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 1: the spacecraft, open up a channel, and the urine would 559 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,760 Speaker 1: vent into space and would instantly crystallize upon exiting the capsule. 560 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,200 Speaker 1: There's actually video footage of this where you can see 561 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,799 Speaker 1: the formation of the crystals as the p is being 562 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 1: vented out into space, so that that footage exists if 563 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,080 Speaker 1: you want to check it out anyway. For the Gemini 564 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: or Gemini seven mission, the astronauts were to be in 565 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,200 Speaker 1: space for nearly two weeks at gem level and Frank 566 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 1: Boorman where the astronauts on board Historic Flight Unfortunately, despite 567 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,600 Speaker 1: the low fiber diet, Level felt the need to go 568 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 1: pooh when they were still several days left in the mission, 569 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:15,000 Speaker 1: and so he went, like, there wasn't really any real 570 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,000 Speaker 1: option to do anything else, so he pooped his suit, 571 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:21,080 Speaker 1: and that experience taught NASA that something else was going 572 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,080 Speaker 1: to need to be done for Apollo, because those missions 573 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,879 Speaker 1: were also going to be very long to get out 574 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:29,760 Speaker 1: to the Moon and come back. But if you think 575 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:32,400 Speaker 1: that that something was to include a toilet on the 576 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:36,200 Speaker 1: Apollo capsule, well you're wrong because it was way too 577 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:39,120 Speaker 1: late in the game to figure that out. So instead 578 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,600 Speaker 1: there need to be some sort of equipment the astronauts 579 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: could have to deal with the issue, and an actual 580 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:49,200 Speaker 1: process for them to follow and well, there wasn't enough 581 00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 1: space in the capsule to carry something really sophisticated. And 582 00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:56,200 Speaker 1: now we come to the poop in a bag part 583 00:35:56,239 --> 00:36:01,200 Speaker 1: of our podcast. Yeah, so the poop collection equipment consisted 584 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:05,080 Speaker 1: of a bag with some adhesive around the rim of 585 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:09,400 Speaker 1: the opening, so you were essentially taping the bag to 586 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:13,839 Speaker 1: your backside and creating a seal. Otherwise, well you're gonna 587 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,359 Speaker 1: have poop fly all over the place in microgravity, and 588 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,240 Speaker 1: spoiler alert, that actually did happen. Kind of a crappy 589 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 1: flight experience, if you ask me. Anyway, According to what 590 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:27,440 Speaker 1: I've read, the procedure for doing this involved the astronaut 591 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:30,919 Speaker 1: who needed to go to the bathroom moving to one 592 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,520 Speaker 1: side of the capsule, the other two being as far 593 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:37,480 Speaker 1: away as they possibly could be from the third that 594 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:41,080 Speaker 1: was not particularly far in the Apollo capsule. Then the 595 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:43,719 Speaker 1: astronaut who needed to go would have to get out 596 00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:49,400 Speaker 1: of a suit like all of his suits, stripping down naked, which, 597 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:52,440 Speaker 1: as I'm sure you've gathered, requires a pretty good amount 598 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,880 Speaker 1: of work. Then he would need to adhere the defecation 599 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: collection system or you know, the poop bag, to his posterior. 600 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:03,400 Speaker 1: The bag also included a flap of plastic and you 601 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,480 Speaker 1: would put your fingers into this flap of plastic was 602 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:09,040 Speaker 1: kind of like you know, like a like a plastic 603 00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:14,000 Speaker 1: glove for a couple of fingers. Because okay, so there's 604 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:17,759 Speaker 1: no gravity in space, or rather micro gravity. It's like 605 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:20,200 Speaker 1: you're constantly falling. So the effect to us is that 606 00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:26,160 Speaker 1: we're floating weightless. Right. Gravity is typically what causes the 607 00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:30,720 Speaker 1: separation of poop from you know us when we poop. 608 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:34,920 Speaker 1: Gravity is helps us out in that matter, and that 609 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:38,120 Speaker 1: meant there needed to be something there so that the 610 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:42,879 Speaker 1: astronaut could you know, effectively using gloved fingers make that 611 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:48,080 Speaker 1: separation happen manually. Yeah, I know, this is gross. And 612 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,160 Speaker 1: once done, the astronaut would need to use a special 613 00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:55,480 Speaker 1: anti microbial tablet that would be inserted into this bag 614 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:59,759 Speaker 1: and broken up so that, uh, the the tablet would 615 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,880 Speaker 1: kill off the microbes in there. And you had to 616 00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:06,600 Speaker 1: mix this like by squishing this bag of poo and 617 00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:11,120 Speaker 1: microbial tablets are inta microbial tablets because otherwise the microbes 618 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:14,360 Speaker 1: in the poo might generate various gases and that could 619 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:18,600 Speaker 1: eventually cause bags to over inflate and potentially rupture, which 620 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:23,960 Speaker 1: is super gross and dangerous because otherwise microbials in the 621 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:27,839 Speaker 1: poop could start to generate various gases that could cause 622 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:31,879 Speaker 1: the bags to inflate over time, potentially to the point 623 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:34,520 Speaker 1: where they would rupture, which is a pretty big eu. 624 00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:37,120 Speaker 1: So the tablets were meant to prevent that from happening 625 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:40,440 Speaker 1: by killing off the bacterium. And once all that was 626 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:42,640 Speaker 1: done and the bag was sealed and stowed away, the 627 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:46,160 Speaker 1: astronaut could go back through the process of getting back 628 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:49,600 Speaker 1: into their their flight suit. The whole process could take 629 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,400 Speaker 1: upwards of an hour, and the astronauts hated doing it 630 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:55,799 Speaker 1: for obvious reasons, and they would frequently hold off for 631 00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:58,640 Speaker 1: as long as they possibly could before having to give 632 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:02,960 Speaker 1: into the column nature. And yeah, there were incidents of 633 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,000 Speaker 1: rogue poo in capsules. I mean Apollo nine was one 634 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:11,040 Speaker 1: such mission. Their actual communication logs, no pun intended that 635 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:15,640 Speaker 1: talk about a floating turd in the capsule, because sometimes 636 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:20,520 Speaker 1: being a hero gets pretty darn gross. After Apollo, a 637 00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:22,839 Speaker 1: lot of work would go into creating, you know, other 638 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,080 Speaker 1: systems to make it easier to go to the bathroom 639 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:29,080 Speaker 1: in space, or at least a little less unpleasant, if 640 00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:32,000 Speaker 1: not actually easier. But we're not going to go into 641 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:34,839 Speaker 1: all of those because really the only reason I wanted 642 00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:37,880 Speaker 1: to cover it here was because it was coinciding with 643 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:41,360 Speaker 1: the evolution of the space suit, and the two played 644 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:45,640 Speaker 1: apart with one another. So let's get back to Apollo 645 00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:48,200 Speaker 1: and cover up a couple of little brief things. The 646 00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:51,359 Speaker 1: whole purpose of the Apollo missions was again to get 647 00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:54,040 Speaker 1: astronauts to the Moon, and that would mean that any 648 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:57,000 Speaker 1: astronaut taking a moonwalk would need to have their own 649 00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:00,439 Speaker 1: life support system connected to their suit and on board 650 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:02,680 Speaker 1: the capsule. It wouldn't be a problem, and the spacecraft 651 00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:05,200 Speaker 1: provided all life support, but now on the Moon the 652 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 1: job would fall to the p l s S, or 653 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,879 Speaker 1: the portable life support system. That is where we will 654 00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:15,040 Speaker 1: pick up in our next episode to talk about the 655 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:18,560 Speaker 1: p l s S. We'll talk about the further evolution 656 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:22,200 Speaker 1: of the space suit, including how it then evolved into 657 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:25,400 Speaker 1: the type that was used aboard the Space Shuttle and 658 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,160 Speaker 1: the kind that's used on the International Space Station. We 659 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:32,719 Speaker 1: will also talk about the proposals that have been in 660 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:39,040 Speaker 1: various forms of production since then, and about the the 661 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:43,520 Speaker 1: the proposed design of the future space suit, the one 662 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:47,600 Speaker 1: that unfortunately means that the Artemis program is going to 663 00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:50,480 Speaker 1: be delayed by at least a year, but we'll get 664 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,719 Speaker 1: into that into the next episode. If you have suggestions 665 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:56,440 Speaker 1: for topics I should cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, 666 00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:58,680 Speaker 1: reach out to me and let me know what those are. 667 00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:01,680 Speaker 1: The best way to do that is on our Twitter account. 668 00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:05,440 Speaker 1: That's text Stuff. Hsw over on Twitter and I'll talk 669 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:13,239 Speaker 1: to you again, really s. Text Stuff is an I 670 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:16,840 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 671 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:20,360 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 672 00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:21,960 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.