1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: He there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And back in March 5 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty, just as we were starting to go 6 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: into a work from home phase, I published the episode 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: about the artemis program, you know, the one that I 8 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: actually ran last week, So if you if you did 9 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: miss it back in March, we ran it again last week. 10 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: And uh, that might have even been the very first 11 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: episode that published after our office closed, because it published 12 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:52,520 Speaker 1: on March six, and from a desk calendar that refuses 13 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: to change, I know the last day that most people 14 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: were in the office was March. Anyway. In that episode, 15 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: in case you didn't listen to the rerun from last week, 16 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: I described the goals and the purpose of NASA's Artemus program, 17 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: which includes a return to the Moon. And I'm sure 18 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: that I mentioned probably multiple times that it was an 19 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: incredibly aggressive goal, one that I was kind of having 20 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: trouble seeing NASA actually achieve. It just seemed like it 21 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: was too tough of a thing to do to have 22 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: it be done by well NASA's Office of the Inspector 23 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: General has outright said that the goal is unachievable because 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: one of the necessary components, that being a new space 25 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,040 Speaker 1: suit design, will not be ready until the spring of 26 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: at the earliest. Um. That's not the only thing that's 27 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: going to push that program back, but it's one of 28 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: the big ones. So I thought today we would talk 29 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: a bit about space suits and their history, and then 30 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: in our next episode we'll continue that and talk about 31 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: the current project to update space suits and why has 32 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: it taken so long? Why are we behind schedule? But 33 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: to start off with, let's talk about why you need 34 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: a space suit out there in the first place. Now, 35 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 1: those of you have been listening to tech stuff for 36 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: a while know that I have a saying. Actually I've 37 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:17,360 Speaker 1: got a few of them, but one of them is 38 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: space is trying to kill you all the time. It 39 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: never rests, and it's always trying to do it. And 40 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: there are a lot of ways that space is doing this. 41 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: One is that space, like one of those terrible restaurants, 42 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: has a complete lack of atmosphere. I mean, like there's 43 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: no oxygen out there, so you'd have nothing to breathe. 44 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: You could pass out within fifteen seconds. Just from that alone. 45 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: Beyond that, your blood could boil in space, And that 46 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: might seem a bit counterintuitive after all, Like, if you're 47 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: talking about deep space, that's cold, right, I mean, like, 48 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: if you're talking about deep deep space you're outside of 49 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: the Solar system. That would just be a couple of 50 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: degrees off from absolute zero, which is the coldest temperature possible. 51 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: Because an absolute zero there's no molecular movement at all. 52 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: Atoms are just kind of perfectly still. Normally they're vibrating 53 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: all around the place. So with the temperature of that cold, 54 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: you would probably expect to freeze rather than to boil. 55 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: I'll come back to the temperature thing in just a second. 56 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: But here's the tricky bit. See, for heat to dissipate, 57 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: you need to have a way to transfer it away 58 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: from one body to another, and without convection, the heat 59 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 1: would tend to stay with you for a bit. Though 60 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: you wouldn't stay warm for long. It's just you wouldn't 61 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: immediately turn into an ice lolly. Now that means you'd 62 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: have enough body heat to boil off your body fluids 63 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: and blood. See, the vacuum of space means there's very 64 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: very low pressure. Right, there's no air pressure in space, 65 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: and that would reduce the boiling point of the various 66 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: liquids in your body. And if they're reduced down low enough, 67 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: it means that your body heat alone would be enough 68 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: to boil off those liquids. Now, we can totally simulate 69 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: this on Earth, though preferably not with a living creature, 70 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: by putting you know, a jar of room temperature water 71 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: in a vacuum chamber and then sucking the air out 72 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: of the chamber, and you can make water boil at 73 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: room temperature. This way, the water does not get hotter 74 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: or anything like that, it just has a lower boiling point. Actually, 75 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: the temperature of your blood and body fluids would probably 76 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: go down as it was boiling, because boiling is an 77 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 1: endothermic process and the liquid loses energy in that process. 78 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: But we'll move on because we've got a lot of 79 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: other stuff to cover in this episode. So those boiling 80 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: body fluids and the low pressure environment of space means 81 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: that all your soft tissues would also start to swell 82 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: and expand that would be uncomfortable if it were just 83 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: you know, like your skin and maybe your fat tissue. 84 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: But it also includes your internal organ So that's you know, 85 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: inconvenient at best. Now I also mean in that, as 86 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: Cohn said in Star Trek two, it's very cold in space, 87 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: but that's only partly true. See, if you're exposed to 88 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,919 Speaker 1: sunlight out in outer space, you could experience temperatures of 89 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: around a hundred twenty degrees celsius or two degrees fahrenheit. 90 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: Now if you're out of the sun, if you are 91 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: in you know, the shade in space, that temperature would plunge, uh, 92 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: though not necessarily all the way down to have absolute zero, uh, 93 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: you know, because we reserve the super cold stuff or 94 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: deep space. But it would go really low, like more 95 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: than negative on d degrees fahrenheit. And that means that 96 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: you're going to encounter vastly different temperatures and changes in temperature. 97 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: Then you've got tiny particles in space that can be 98 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: moving at incredible speeds. These are micro meteoroids, and they 99 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: are tiny, but because of momentum, they can pack a 100 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: huge punch. See that's that class sick equation of momentum 101 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: is mass times velocity. So the mass of a some 102 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: some matter traveling at a specific velocity, which is you know, 103 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: speed plus direction so a tiny particle could have very 104 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: little mass, but if it's traveling fast enough, it carries 105 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 1: a heck of a lot of momentum. I mean, that's 106 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: the principle behind things like projectile weapons, right. They projectiles 107 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: don't have a lot of mass, but they move super fast, 108 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: so they have a lot of momentum, and thus they 109 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: can have a big impact. So you would want to 110 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: wear something that could offer at least some protection against 111 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. Uh, then you've got the various 112 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 1: forms of radiation that you would encounter in space. Here 113 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: on Earth we have an atmosphere and a magnetosphere, and 114 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: together those provide us with some protection against some of 115 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: the worst radiation out there, like gamma radiation and that 116 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: kind of thing. But if you're outside of that layer 117 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: of protection, you need something to keep you safe from 118 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: deadly radiation or else you could suffer some serious consequences 119 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 1: from acute burns too long term health complications like cancer. 120 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: So obviously, if you want to visit someplace like the Moon, 121 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: you're going to need a special suit to provide protection 122 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: against the multitude of ways space is trying to kill you. 123 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: The suit needs to be pressurized and allow you to 124 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: have a breathable atmosphere inside. The suit needs to be 125 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: able to remove carbon dioxide, which you know we exhale, 126 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: so that we can continue to breathe oxygen and function. 127 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: It needs to protect against micro meteoroids at least a 128 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: little bit. Needs to keep you at a temperature that's 129 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: not too hot or too cold, even as you exert 130 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: energy to move around and encounter areas of fluctuating temperatures. Ideally, 131 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: it also will include systems that let you communicate with 132 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: other people. After all, because space has a shortage of 133 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: molecules out there, Sound does not travel in space. For 134 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: sound to travel, molecules need to vibrate against other molecules. 135 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: Sound travels through the air through air pressure fluctuations, and 136 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: that really, when you zoom in on the whole thing, 137 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: would just be air molecules moving and causing neighboring air 138 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: molecules to move back and forth at certain frequencies. And 139 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: some of those frequencies we can observe as sound, We 140 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:22,239 Speaker 1: can perceive them. Space does not have that excess of molecules, 141 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: so there's nothing to carry sound out there, So we've 142 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: gotta have tech systems built into our suits. If we 143 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: want to be able to talk to each other or 144 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: two people back on Earth. So those are some of 145 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: the bare minimum requirements that you would want from your 146 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: space suit, you know, assuming you were gonna go out 147 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: into space itself. The earliest space suits were a bit 148 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: simpler than that because they weren't intended to be worn 149 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: outside of a spacecraft. You know, there was no extra 150 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: vehicular activity or e v A in the earliest missions. 151 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: The space suits needed to protect the people in the 152 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: spacecraft from other potential threats like maybe a fire aboard 153 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: the spacecraft. Uh, they actually evolved from flight suits. So 154 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,679 Speaker 1: let's start with flight suits and work our way up. Alright, 155 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: So the earliest aviation outfits were for low altitude flying 156 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: because that's what the aircraft of the day were capable of. 157 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: So early pilots all the way up into the World 158 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: War One era would wear some pretty simple gear. There 159 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: were a few attempts at creating official pilot uniforms and 160 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: suits in the early days of World War One, but 161 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,239 Speaker 1: many pilots chose to go up with their own gear instead, 162 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: as the suits weren't necessarily a good fit I mean, 163 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: so to speak, not like literally fit, but like they 164 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: didn't provide the level of protection against the cold, for example, 165 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 1: that a lot of pilots wanted. Uh So this was 166 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: actually approved by the military. I mean air air combat 167 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: was so new anyway that it was kind of the 168 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: military catching up to technology. Most of the gear, whether 169 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: it was provided by the military or the pilots themselves, 170 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: was either repurposed or modified motoring gear, so the kind 171 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: of stuff that people who were driving automobiles were wearing. 172 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: So this is where we would get that image of 173 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:16,320 Speaker 1: pilots wearing bomber jackets and baggy trousers. They were practical 174 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: and that they helped the pilot to stay warm and 175 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: offered a bit of protection against stuff like you know, 176 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: debris that you might encounter or oil that was given 177 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: off by the engine. And for that same reason, pilots 178 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 1: typically wore goggles to protect their eyes, and gloves to 179 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: protect their hands, and helmets to you know, protect their noggins. 180 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: This was in the open cockpit days when airplanes did 181 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: not travel to super high altitudes, so there wasn't really 182 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: a need for pressurization yet. Also, the temperatures in winter 183 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 1: could dip as low as negative thirty five celsius when 184 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,560 Speaker 1: flying at altitudes of ten to fifteen thousand feet, which 185 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: was kind of, you know, not uncommon in some parts 186 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,079 Speaker 1: of the world during World War One, so staying warm 187 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: was absolutely idol. Then there was this feller named Sydney 188 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: Cotton from Australia who helped develop a flight suit that 189 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:10,680 Speaker 1: had a fur and airproof silk lining in it to 190 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: protect against the cold. His design was so well received 191 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: and it became known as the sid Caught flight suit 192 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: for Sydney Cotton. Uh. It became the standard for the 193 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: second half of World War One for especially the Royal 194 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: Air Force, so the sid cut suits became pretty pretty 195 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,840 Speaker 1: much universal there. The first actual flight suit that was 196 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 1: made specifically to handle the challenges of flying in a 197 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: plane at higher altitudes was the product of a pilot 198 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 1: named Wiley Post who, along with the company B F. Goodrich, 199 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 1: created this flight suit and the suit was pressurized. It 200 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: had special arm and leg joints to help the pilot 201 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 1: with mobility, because when you pressurize a suit, I mean 202 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: you're you're kind of you're inflating essentially, is what you're doing. 203 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:57,439 Speaker 1: So you have to have some way of dealing with 204 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 1: mobility issues because the suit gets stiff as it's like 205 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: you're inside a giant balloon. Uh. And also they connected 206 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: the suit to a source of liquid oxygen to U 207 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: to end up supplying air for the higher altitudes. By 208 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: World War Two, the nature of air combat had changed 209 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,360 Speaker 1: and you had bombers that could fly at very high altitudes. 210 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: But in the days before pressurized cabins, it meant that 211 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: the people inside the planes need to wear special flight 212 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,079 Speaker 1: suits with electric heating elements in them to fight off 213 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: the cold at those higher altitudes. And just as a reminder, 214 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: electric heaters are really simple electronics. Basically, you have a 215 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: conductor that has a pretty good resistance to electrical flow, 216 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,560 Speaker 1: and then you try to feed a current through that conductor. 217 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: So as electricity tries to flow through this conductor that 218 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 1: has high resistance, a lot of the electrical energy converts 219 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: into heat. And this is the principle behind stuff like 220 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: electric stovetops and electric toasters. I mean, it's similar to 221 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: how incandescent lightbulbs work in a way as well. And 222 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: I should add that there was some experimentation with electric 223 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: heated components even back as far as World War One, 224 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 1: but they were pretty primitive. In addition, they were typically 225 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: powered by a small windmill generator that could be mounted 226 00:13:14,559 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: onto the wing of a plane, and a normal operation 227 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: that was fine. But if the pilot ever had to 228 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: engage in say like a dive, where the velocity of 229 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: the air going past the plane increased dramatically, well that 230 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:31,199 Speaker 1: would coincide with an increased output from the windmill generator, 231 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,320 Speaker 1: and then you could have way too much voltage being 232 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: supplied to the heating elements and the pilot could actually 233 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: get burned by these components that were meant to keep 234 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: the pilot warm as they flew, which is kind of 235 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: a big yike's But over time the flight suit evolved. Pressurization, 236 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: heating elements, oxygen supply, protective elements like helmets, and the 237 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: development of flame retardant materials all became part of the 238 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: design of flight suits, and post World War Two we 239 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: entered into an era of new experimentation with regard to 240 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,959 Speaker 1: high altitude flying and really pushing the limits of both 241 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: aircraft and human endurance. Part of that was how humans 242 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,839 Speaker 1: can handle acceleration or G forces, So like G force 243 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: being in relation to the strength of gravity right uh 244 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: at C level essentially, but one one G is one 245 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: one to one of Earth's gravity. Well, that last bit 246 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: about you know, withstanding acceleration was super important because during 247 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: intense acceleration, humans have a tendency to black out. I mean, obviously, 248 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: when you're piloting a craft through the air or in space, 249 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: that's a bad thing. I mean, it's not really a 250 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: good thing in any context, I suppose. But what is 251 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 1: going on here? Why do we black out at higher accelerations. Well, 252 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: during those intense accelerations, our blood tends to pool in 253 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: the lower part of our body, and that means the 254 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: old brain ain't getting enough of that sweet, sweet oxygen 255 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 1: that it graves oh so much. And this can lead 256 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: to a gray out, which is where your vision starts 257 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: to diminish, or a full on blackout where you lose 258 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 1: your vision and even a loss of consciousness. Now, the 259 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: suits developed in the nineteen forties and nineteen fifties used 260 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: various means, such as inflatable bladders that could fill with 261 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: either air or with water in some cases, to provide 262 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: pressure on the lower parts of the body and help 263 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,480 Speaker 1: push back against that tendency for blood to pool in 264 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 1: the lower half of the body. Even so, this typically 265 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: only allows a pilot to endure a little more acceleration 266 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 1: than whatever their natural tolerances, so it's somewhere in between 267 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: three to five times the force of gravity for most people. Interestingly, 268 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: the development of these components was something of a controversy 269 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: in that the people who are building the planes, the 270 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: engineers building planes, were kind of worried that if pilots 271 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 1: knew that they could push them elves harder because their 272 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: suits would allow them to withstand greater acceleration, that they 273 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 1: would bloody well go and do that, even if it 274 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: meant that they were pushing the aircraft beyond its own 275 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:17,240 Speaker 1: stress capabilities. And so some air forces, some you know, 276 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,480 Speaker 1: some some flight schools and stuff, chose to hold back 277 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: on incorporating what would become known as G suits for 278 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: a while, in an effort to avoid encouraging pilots to 279 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: you know, go fast. Oh. Also, interestingly, one person to 280 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: experiment with G suit development in the early forties was 281 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: a guy named Frank Cotton from Australia. I say interestingly 282 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: because if you were listening earlier, you heard me talk 283 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:48,080 Speaker 1: about Sydney Cotton, also from Australia, who is the feller 284 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: who came up with that Sidcot suit so your question is, 285 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: were Frank and Sydney cotton related? I have no cotton 286 00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: picking idea. That was a long way to go for 287 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: something that wasn't even quite a joke. In fact, I 288 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: think it was long enough where we all need to 289 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 1: take a quick break, but we'll be right back. So 290 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:17,680 Speaker 1: by the nineteen fifties, the flight suit had evolved into 291 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,640 Speaker 1: gear that was meant to provide various types of protection 292 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: to pilots. With the creation of pressurized cabins with climate control, 293 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: some of the stuff was less important, right, Some of 294 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:33,320 Speaker 1: the pressurization things and the heat elements weren't as important 295 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:35,879 Speaker 1: and didn't need to be incorporated into some flight suits. 296 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: But flight suits still need to be flame resistant, they 297 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,560 Speaker 1: need to allow for mobility, and they needed to provide 298 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,679 Speaker 1: protection in the event that pilot needed to eject from 299 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 1: their aircraft, and also for anything that was involving a 300 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: lot of like intense acceleration, you needed to have that 301 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: g suit protection. But now let's move on to space suits, because, 302 00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: as I said earlier, they evolved from flight suits. The 303 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 1: space race that got started in the nineteen fifties was 304 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: really an extension of the Cold War and a race 305 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:09,879 Speaker 1: between the United States and the then Soviet Union to 306 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,920 Speaker 1: reach certain milestones before the other could, all while also 307 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,680 Speaker 1: demonstrating a technological capability of reigning destruction down on the 308 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: other country should at all come to that. So in 309 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: some ways this was a struggle to claim technological superiority 310 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:31,359 Speaker 1: over a rival. UH. The Soviets really got the jump 311 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:34,480 Speaker 1: on the Americans with the launch of Spotnik in nineteen 312 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: fifty seven, marking the first time a human made satellite 313 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: entered Earth orbit, and they would also be the first 314 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: to put a person into space. The first space suit 315 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:48,400 Speaker 1: emerged from the then Soviet Union as part of its 316 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 1: cosmonaut program. It had the designation of s K one UH. 317 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: The s K stood for some Russian words that translate 318 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,679 Speaker 1: roughly into space diving suit because the suit had some 319 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,640 Speaker 1: feature is similar to like a deep sea diving suit 320 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: think of like the Big Daddies and BioShock. And even 321 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,959 Speaker 1: this was an evolution of earlier flight suits worn by 322 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,359 Speaker 1: Soviet jet pilot fighter pilots. The first human to go 323 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 1: into space was Uri Gagarin in nineteen sixty one, and 324 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: Gagarin's trip was aboard a space capsule and he wasn't 325 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: going to exit the capsule while in space, so he 326 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:28,920 Speaker 1: didn't need to have the full like extra vehicular activity 327 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,920 Speaker 1: style space suit. However, because the Soviets had not yet 328 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 1: developed a spacecraft that could land safely, he would have 329 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:40,199 Speaker 1: to eject during descent and then parachute down from an 330 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,879 Speaker 1: altitude of around twenty thousand feet. So these are the 331 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: sort of factors that went into the design of the suit. 332 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: They had to make a suit that would be able 333 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: to do these kind of things. The suit had a 334 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 1: helmet that had a visor that could be lowered down 335 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 1: over the face. In fact, had a pressure sensor that 336 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 1: the pressure sensor detected a crease and pressure a rapid decompression, 337 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,119 Speaker 1: then the visor could slam down and seal it. The 338 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: helmet was permanently attached to the suit. You could only 339 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: take the helmet off by taking off the whole darn suit. 340 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 1: Worn Under the helmet was a leather covered radio headset 341 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:19,399 Speaker 1: below the helmet on the suit was a collar that 342 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 1: could inflate in the event that Gagaron landed in the water. 343 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: That would allow him to keep his head above water 344 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: if that were the case. Because again, since the helmet 345 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: couldn't be removed, there was no getting out of that 346 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,000 Speaker 1: suit quickly in the case of a water landing, but 347 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 1: an inflated collar could keep his head above the level 348 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: of water. The fabric of the suit was nylon, which 349 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,399 Speaker 1: is a synthetic polymer, and it was bright orange and 350 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: color to make it easier to spot Gagaron upon his return. 351 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: The suit also had gloves with leather palms and heavy 352 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,880 Speaker 1: leather boots, and the suit did the job. Gagaran returned 353 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: safely to Earth after spending more than an hour and 354 00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: a half orbiting the planet. One time, he reportedly startled 355 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:06,360 Speaker 1: a farmer and his daughter as he returned. When he landed, 356 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 1: uh is walking through the countryside, dragging a parachute behind him, 357 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 1: dressed in a big orange suit and having a big 358 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,360 Speaker 1: helmet on, and he tried his best to assure them 359 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: that he was a Soviet just like they were, and 360 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: all he needed was a telephone in order to call Moscow, 361 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 1: which I just think is a great story. Meanwhile, over 362 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 1: the United States there was the same rush to get 363 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 1: to space, and at that point it was a rush 364 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 1: to catch up to the Soviets because they had beaten 365 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,640 Speaker 1: America to the punch. Engineers were already working on suit 366 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,159 Speaker 1: designs that would be suitable to allow astronauts to go 367 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,640 Speaker 1: outside of a spacecraft, perhaps even walking on the Moon. 368 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 1: But these were in the earliest stages of development. They 369 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:50,200 Speaker 1: were in the prototype stage. And uh I saw pictures 370 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: of one of the early pressurized suits and it literally 371 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: looked like it came out of Edwood science fiction film 372 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:58,520 Speaker 1: if you don't know who that is, Plan nine from 373 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: Matter Space Director, just the cheesiest of of nineteen style 374 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: sci fi B movies. And the engineer inside the suit 375 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:11,200 Speaker 1: was wearing it looked like kind of a metal barrel 376 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,520 Speaker 1: for the torso like think of like like one of 377 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: those ten wind up robot toys. It kind of look 378 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:20,920 Speaker 1: like that had segmented sleeves that covered the arms, had 379 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,119 Speaker 1: a helmet with a glass visor that looked kind of 380 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 1: like the head of a Lego figurine, kind of had 381 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: that cylindrical look to it. They were a long way 382 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: away from the modern space suit, is what I'm saying. 383 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 1: The Mercury seven, the pilots who trained to be part 384 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:38,160 Speaker 1: of Project Mercury, which was our first attempt to send 385 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,679 Speaker 1: people to space, reliant upon a flight suit called the 386 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: Navy Mark four, which was designed by the BF good 387 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,120 Speaker 1: Rich Company. The heritage for the Mark four trace its 388 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 1: history all the way back to Wiley Post, whom I 389 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: mentioned before the break, and in fact they even had 390 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,119 Speaker 1: the same designer. A guy named Russell Collie worked on 391 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,360 Speaker 1: both of those. The suit had a zipper that extended 392 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: from the left shoulder and moved diagonally down across the 393 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,480 Speaker 1: torso and ended at the waist. There are also a 394 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 1: couple of other zippers. There were two at the neck 395 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:12,400 Speaker 1: and one around the waist, which made it quote unquote 396 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:14,600 Speaker 1: easier to get in and out of the suit. But 397 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: when I say easier, just know that I don't mean easy, 398 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 1: just easier than some other one piece suits. The suit 399 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 1: covered the entire body except for the head and hands, 400 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,800 Speaker 1: which were covered by a detachable helmet and gloves, respectively. 401 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: So the boots were built into it, but the gloves 402 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:37,360 Speaker 1: were not. The helmet containing the microphones and speakers were 403 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 1: there to serve, as you know, a communication system for 404 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 1: the astronauts. The visor was made out of plexiglass. The 405 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,399 Speaker 1: visor could also be raised out of the way or 406 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,399 Speaker 1: lowered into place, and then sealed with a pneumatic seal, 407 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:52,199 Speaker 1: so again it could provide a pressurized environment for the 408 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: astronauts if necessary. The gloves attached to the suit through 409 00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: a detent ball bearing lock. I I do not know 410 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 1: what that means. I mean, I know it's a lock, 411 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: but I haven't looked into how it actually worked. But anyway, 412 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: the purpose for it was to give the astronauts a 413 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 1: little bit more risk mobility when come without you know, 414 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: compromising the fact that you need to have a seal 415 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,400 Speaker 1: there with the rest of the suit, otherwise you would 416 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:20,679 Speaker 1: have a leak. Right, The index and middle fingers on 417 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,680 Speaker 1: both gloves had little red lights incorporated into them. These 418 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,640 Speaker 1: were fed by batteries that were located in a battery 419 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,680 Speaker 1: pack on the back side of the gloves. The torso 420 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 1: section had two major layers. The inner layer was made 421 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: of neoprene and nylon, and the outer layer had an 422 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:43,679 Speaker 1: illuminized nylon fabric designed to reflect heat away from the astronaut. 423 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:48,399 Speaker 1: You know. Inside the suit, a neck ring secured the 424 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 1: helmet in place, with an additional tied down strap to 425 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: keep the helmet in place so that should the suit 426 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,840 Speaker 1: be pressurized, the helmet wouldn't rise up and block the 427 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: astronauts vision. Um. Yeah, that's gonna become important because I'm 428 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:04,960 Speaker 1: going to talk about a case where something like that 429 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: happened to a Russian cosmonaut and how it could have 430 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: been disastrous. So this suit used a pressurization system to 431 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,879 Speaker 1: keep pressure inside the suit close to Earth levels. Uh. 432 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,639 Speaker 1: It also used chords on the suit to restrict the 433 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 1: suits tendency to expand like a balloon, which would you know, 434 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:27,199 Speaker 1: severely limit maneuverability. The Mercury spacecraft itself was pressurized, so 435 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,280 Speaker 1: the suits didn't have to be pressurized for normal operation, 436 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: and that made things a little bit easier for the 437 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,679 Speaker 1: astronauts who are piloting the spacecraft because they didn't they 438 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,879 Speaker 1: had a little more mobility, although not they couldn't do 439 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 1: much with that mobility because they were in a tiny, 440 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,520 Speaker 1: tiny spacecraft. It was only you know, large enough for 441 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,399 Speaker 1: one person, and even then it was cramped. The suits 442 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,439 Speaker 1: also incorporated aluminum in the materials, like I mentioned, that 443 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: provided extra strength compared to earlier flight suits. But again, 444 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,880 Speaker 1: these suits were meant to be worn inside the capsule only. 445 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: These were not suits that could be worn out in 446 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,160 Speaker 1: space on their own. They also didn't have good temperature control. 447 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: Basically the oxygen system they had served as the cooling system. 448 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: So basically the way the oxygen system worked was that 449 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: it had a tube would attach to the suit at 450 00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: the waist and oxygen would come in through that tube 451 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: at the waist. Oxygen would then circulate a bit through 452 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 1: tubes running inside the suit to help cool down the astronaut, 453 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: and then it would eventually make its way up to 454 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: the helmet and then UH excess would exit out the 455 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,920 Speaker 1: right side of the helmet into a different tube including 456 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: carbon dioxide. There was also some bio sensors and a 457 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 1: connector in the suit to allow the suit to connect 458 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: to the spacecraft's instruments that would allow you know, NASA 459 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: to monitor astronaut vital signs and stuff. On the left 460 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: arm of the suit was a pressure in caters, so 461 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,119 Speaker 1: that should the suit be pressurized, the astronaut would be 462 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: able to see what the pressure level was in the 463 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 1: suit pretty easily. UH and underneath all of this, the 464 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:15,600 Speaker 1: astronauts wore a one piece, lightweight cotton body suit, so 465 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 1: lots of layers here. Alan Shepherd became the first American 466 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: to go to space one month after Gagarin's achievement. Shepherd's 467 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: flight was sub orbital However, he did not go into orbit. 468 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,639 Speaker 1: John Glenn would be the first American to orbit the 469 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,280 Speaker 1: Earth in nineteen sixty two, and he completed three orbits 470 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 1: before returning back to Earth. Both Shepherd and Glenn wore 471 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 1: versions of the Mercury space suit. But let's hop back 472 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:44,040 Speaker 1: over to the Soviet Union to talk about suits designed 473 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:47,399 Speaker 1: to keep humans safe out in space itself without the 474 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: benefits of, you know, having a spacecraft around you. So 475 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,360 Speaker 1: the Soviets were the first to have a person take 476 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,159 Speaker 1: a trip outside of spacecraft on a spacewalk, which happened 477 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: in March of nineteen sixty five. That person was Alexei Leonov. 478 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:06,440 Speaker 1: He would have to enter an airlock, an inflatable airlock. Uh. 479 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 1: He would then have that and he would be in 480 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:15,640 Speaker 1: the airlock while his his co cosmonaut would release pressure 481 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: so that there could be an equalization of the lack 482 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,040 Speaker 1: of pressure out in space and the air pressure that's 483 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: inside the capsule, and then he could transfer outside of 484 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:29,360 Speaker 1: the vok shot to spacecraft and then spend a few 485 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: minutes outside doing a spacewalk. And he remained connected to 486 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,560 Speaker 1: the capsule by a tether, so it's he wouldn't float 487 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 1: off aimlessly into space, and the Soviets would learn some 488 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: pretty valuable lessons nearly at the expense of Leonov's life. 489 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 1: His space suit had been called the burk Hutt space suit. 490 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: Burn Hutt was actually the name that the spacecraft was 491 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,200 Speaker 1: a vok shot too, but it had the name of 492 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: burn Hutt, which means golden eagle. And his suit had 493 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: a hermetic casing layer on top of the pressure ized 494 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 1: space suit and came complete with a shoulder pack in 495 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: which the suits to oxygen cylinders were mounted, so he 496 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: was carrying his oxygen that supply on his suit. This 497 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: would be different from the way the Americans would do 498 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 1: it with Project Gemini or Jiminy, if you prefer. It 499 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,320 Speaker 1: was really hard to find like any solid details about 500 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: this suit, but there are a few things I can 501 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,920 Speaker 1: say for sure. One is that the space suit was 502 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,200 Speaker 1: really bulky even before going into space, but once in space, 503 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: the suit became even bulkier. So again, imagine being inside 504 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 1: an inflated balloon, and he started to get the picture. 505 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:47,160 Speaker 1: There was a lack of pressure outside the suit, so 506 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: the suit expanded in every direction. That meant that Leonof 507 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: found that his hands were no longer securely in his gloves, 508 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: like his fingers were no longer in the fingertips of 509 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: his gloves because the arms of the space suit expanded 510 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 1: beyond the length of his arms. The same thing was 511 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: happening with his feet, like his feet were no longer 512 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: firmly in the boot section of his suit, and he 513 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: was having issues seeing through the helmet as well. Uh. 514 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: That also meant that he would no longer be able 515 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: to go back into the spacecraft the way they had trained, 516 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: which was to go in through the airlock feet first. 517 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:27,920 Speaker 1: So instead he had to figure out a way to 518 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,880 Speaker 1: pull himself inside head first, and he said took a 519 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:33,040 Speaker 1: really long time, and he had a limited amount of oxygen, 520 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: about forty five minutes worth total. He also started overheating. 521 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 1: He found that the strain of moving around inside the 522 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: suit out in space was pretty intense and it was 523 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,240 Speaker 1: causing him to get really hot inside the suit. The 524 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,960 Speaker 1: material of the suit was pretty stiff, and due to 525 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: the inflation issue, it meant that fighting against the suit, 526 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,600 Speaker 1: you know, was necessary in order to get anything done. 527 00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:59,719 Speaker 1: He had to not just put forth effort to do 528 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: the thing, but to do the thing against the suit. 529 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:05,760 Speaker 1: Even though he was only outside for a little bit, 530 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,560 Speaker 1: he was still getting pretty exhausted. So in order to 531 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: make his way back into the airlock, Leonov chose to 532 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 1: vent some of his oxygen out into space because he 533 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,880 Speaker 1: needed to be able to regain some flexibility inside his suit, 534 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: and it's just a fully inflated he just didn't have. 535 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 1: It makes me think of that's been in a Christmas 536 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: story where the kid can't put his arms down because 537 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: he's wrapped up in too many coats. So this could 538 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: have been disastrous as if he had vented too much 539 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,280 Speaker 1: oxygen out and he could have been starved of oxygen, 540 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 1: or he could have had a full depressurization of a suit, 541 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:44,560 Speaker 1: or he could have just suffered the effects of depressurization, 542 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:46,600 Speaker 1: kind of like the bends if you come up from 543 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,400 Speaker 1: a deep sea dive too quickly. But he was able 544 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 1: to make it inside the airlock. Then he had to 545 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: crunch up into essentially a fetal position so that he 546 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 1: could turn around, close the airlock, and give the signal 547 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 1: to his commander to pressure rise the airlock so that 548 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 1: he could come back inside the capsule. So this was 549 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:06,040 Speaker 1: just one of several technical issues that plagued the mission. 550 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: We'll talk about another one in a little bit, but 551 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: overall the mission was a success and the cosmonauts returned 552 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,920 Speaker 1: to Earth safely. Both the Soviets and Americans included survival 553 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,160 Speaker 1: kits in their spacecraft for returning cosmonauts and returning astronauts 554 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: to to use because in the early days, those space 555 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,280 Speaker 1: capsules were designed to either splash down in the ocean, 556 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: which was the American style, or to have, you know, 557 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 1: kind of a semi soft landing on land, which was 558 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: the preferred method of the Soviets. But while both had 559 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:40,840 Speaker 1: some survival and first aid gear inside these kits, the 560 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,840 Speaker 1: Soviets approach was slightly more intense because the Soviet kit 561 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:49,760 Speaker 1: included a gun. Now the earlier kits included a nine 562 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,840 Speaker 1: millimeter pistol meant to serve as some protection should the 563 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: cosmonauts land in a remote region in Russia and then 564 00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 1: need to fight off local wildlife, which was a very 565 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:03,080 Speaker 1: real possibility. On the very mission in which Leonov went 566 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 1: on his spacewalk, the returning capsule malfunctioned on descent and 567 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 1: the cosmonauts had to rest control from the landing process. 568 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 1: They had to get manual control, which was in itself 569 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:20,320 Speaker 1: an ordeal, and it meant that ultimately they landed really 570 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 1: far away from their target landing space, and actually a 571 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,480 Speaker 1: hundred miles away from the closest city, and they landed 572 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:31,160 Speaker 1: in a mountainous, snowy region, and Leonov realized that his 573 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:34,560 Speaker 1: little nine millimeter pistol, while some comfort, would be of 574 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 1: little use of He and his fellow cosmonaut Belyayev encountered 575 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 1: wolves or a bear out in the wilderness, which was 576 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,600 Speaker 1: a possibility, and so Leonov would later commission the creation 577 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,400 Speaker 1: of a new weapon called the t P a D 578 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,960 Speaker 1: two pistol, which was part sawed off shotgun, part rifle. 579 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: So it it literally had three barrels. It had two 580 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,600 Speaker 1: side by side shotgun barrels, and it had a rifle 581 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,360 Speaker 1: barrel mounted be low the shotgun barrels, and it was 582 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:05,479 Speaker 1: in a pistol form factor, but I mean that pistol 583 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:08,319 Speaker 1: would pack a heck of a kick, and it also 584 00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:11,959 Speaker 1: had a detachable stock that could convert into a machete, 585 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,520 Speaker 1: so you know, typical space stuff. The so used capsules 586 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,360 Speaker 1: used by the Russian Space Agency carried a t P 587 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:22,080 Speaker 1: eighty two aboard as recently as two thousand seven, before 588 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 1: the Russians discontinued that practice, although they did use a 589 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: different weapon in its place. Some Russian crews choose not 590 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:32,200 Speaker 1: to have a gun aboard at all, fearing that the 591 00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:35,240 Speaker 1: presence of a firearm can kind of make things tense 592 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:39,960 Speaker 1: out in space. Um. But yeah, interesting little side note there. Now, 593 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:42,520 Speaker 1: when we come back, we'll continue down the path of 594 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:45,880 Speaker 1: space suit evolution, but first let's take another quick break. 595 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:57,520 Speaker 1: So Leonov took the first spacewalk in nine and in 596 00:34:57,560 --> 00:34:59,920 Speaker 1: the process the Russians learned a lot about the limited 597 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: sas of their space suits. In general, the American approach 598 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:07,279 Speaker 1: put more emphasis on comfort and usability than the Russians did, 599 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:10,400 Speaker 1: but at the same time, the Russians managed to get 600 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 1: to those things first and the Americans didn't. So back 601 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:18,440 Speaker 1: to America starting in nineteen sixty two, so before we 602 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:22,880 Speaker 1: had Leonov's spacewalk, there was the launch of Project Gemini 603 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:27,120 Speaker 1: or Giminy, depending upon your preferred pronunciation. I prefer Gemini, 604 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:30,040 Speaker 1: but yeah, Jiminy is pretty common when you listen to 605 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,960 Speaker 1: interviews of the time. This was the first two astronaut 606 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:37,440 Speaker 1: capsule that the Americans used, and there were a couple 607 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 1: of different space suits that were used in this project, 608 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: one of which was designed for extra vehicular activities or spacewalks. 609 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:46,520 Speaker 1: That one was called the G four C. But first 610 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:49,799 Speaker 1: let's start with the G one C. So NASA had 611 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: to choose which space suit designed to go with for 612 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:55,360 Speaker 1: their Gemini project, and since one of the goals for 613 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:58,240 Speaker 1: that project was to have an astronaut performance space walk, 614 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:02,560 Speaker 1: this was a complex issue. You astronaut Gus Grissom tested 615 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,880 Speaker 1: out a suit designed by the David Clark Company, later 616 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,560 Speaker 1: designated as the G one C suit, and it had 617 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,080 Speaker 1: two layers. Had an internal layer made out of rubber 618 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,920 Speaker 1: and neoprene, and it had a pressure bladder inside it 619 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,920 Speaker 1: for the G suit protection, and then the outer layer 620 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:25,600 Speaker 1: was illuminized UH similar to the kind of material that 621 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,759 Speaker 1: the Project Mercury space suits used. The outer layer was 622 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:32,000 Speaker 1: meant to resist the ballooning effect as well. There was 623 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: the suit, by the way, I actually went to auction. 624 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:36,680 Speaker 1: Sothabes had an auction on it and it went for 625 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 1: nearly forty four thousand dollars. The Dave Clark Company then 626 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,239 Speaker 1: made a follow up suit called the G two C. 627 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:46,720 Speaker 1: This would actually serve as the prototype for the Gemini 628 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:50,239 Speaker 1: space suit designs. None of them were flown. These were 629 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,839 Speaker 1: not space suits that actually went to space, so they 630 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 1: were more like a proof of concept, and the company 631 00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:58,719 Speaker 1: had to make additional changes to address some issues and 632 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,800 Speaker 1: concerns with the suit um like, for example, there was 633 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 1: a visor guard on the helmet that made the helmet 634 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,560 Speaker 1: a bit bulkier, and that in turn would make it 635 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:11,640 Speaker 1: harder for astronauts to move through a spacecraft hatch, so 636 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:13,640 Speaker 1: that was one of the things they had to address. 637 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:16,720 Speaker 1: The first suit to actually see use in Project Gemini 638 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,279 Speaker 1: was the G three C, and the G three C 639 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:23,160 Speaker 1: had six layers. The innermost layer was the rubberized nylon 640 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:28,040 Speaker 1: bladder to help provide pressure on extremities and prevent blackouts. Uh. 641 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:32,120 Speaker 1: All the other layers were of materials called nylon and nomex, 642 00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:35,520 Speaker 1: and the suits boots could actually be removed. These were 643 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:38,600 Speaker 1: not part of the suit themselves, they could lock into place. 644 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:42,640 Speaker 1: The helmet contained communications equipment, so it really was an 645 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:47,439 Speaker 1: evolution of earlier suits. The G four C, the next one, 646 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:50,200 Speaker 1: added a couple of extra layers on top of the 647 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: ones who found on the G three C, and these 648 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:56,359 Speaker 1: layers were milar installation meant to help deal with those 649 00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: extreme temperatures that you could encounter when you're out in Spain. 650 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,320 Speaker 1: The pilot's version of the suit, because the pilot was 651 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,439 Speaker 1: the person who would do the spacewalks, had a sun 652 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:09,520 Speaker 1: visor as well. You could attach the sun visor to 653 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 1: the helmet. This would help protect the astronaut from the 654 00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 1: bright rays of the sun because obviously they're not there's 655 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 1: no atmosphere, so there's nothing there to diffuse that light. 656 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:21,560 Speaker 1: To supply oxygen to the astronaut inside the suit, the 657 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:24,919 Speaker 1: suit actually had a hose that connected back to the spacecraft, 658 00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:27,759 Speaker 1: so it didn't have its own onboard oxygen. It had 659 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,399 Speaker 1: to connect to the spacecraft when you were out doing 660 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:33,239 Speaker 1: an e v A. The suit also relied upon air 661 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:37,160 Speaker 1: conditioning to help manage temperatures, but the astronauts soon found 662 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:41,000 Speaker 1: that this just wasn't cutting it. The air conditioning wasn't 663 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:44,799 Speaker 1: good enough to help keep their body temperature low, as 664 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:48,880 Speaker 1: extra vehicular activities often caused a sharp increase in body temperature, 665 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:52,520 Speaker 1: and not only would it was it uncomfortable, but then 666 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:55,799 Speaker 1: you know, the astronaut would start sweating pretty badly and 667 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,440 Speaker 1: soon the inside their helmet would fog up so it 668 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: could become a real risk. There were a couple of 669 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:04,080 Speaker 1: other space suits in the Gemini line, with the G 670 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:08,040 Speaker 1: four C a m U that stands for Astronaut Maneuvering unit. 671 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:10,960 Speaker 1: There was also the G five C, which was designed 672 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:14,719 Speaker 1: to be more easily removed. So NASA and the astronauts 673 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:18,160 Speaker 1: on the Gemini flights experimented with the astronauts removing their 674 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,319 Speaker 1: space suits in the middle of the mission to see 675 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:25,040 Speaker 1: if they could operate better within the the confines of 676 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:29,440 Speaker 1: the capsule without those giant suits on, and surprise, surprise, 677 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:31,840 Speaker 1: they found out that there was a lot easier to 678 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:34,279 Speaker 1: do that. Uh, And so they kind of made this 679 00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:37,719 Speaker 1: this determination that when you're not in part of a 680 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:41,239 Speaker 1: critical phase of a mission, like if you're not in 681 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:44,719 Speaker 1: the launch or return or you know, things like that 682 00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:49,879 Speaker 1: or docking, if it's just the normal operations, then they 683 00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:54,080 Speaker 1: could operate outside of these suits, which you know, it was. 684 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:57,400 Speaker 1: It was a nice, nice decision, I guess. The Russians 685 00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:01,719 Speaker 1: similarly flew several missions without having their cosmonauts wearing space 686 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:05,279 Speaker 1: suits inside their spacecraft, but in nineteen seventy one, an 687 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:10,080 Speaker 1: accident happened and a returning Soya's capsule decompressed, and all 688 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:14,040 Speaker 1: three cosmonauts aboard the Soya's capsule died because none of 689 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:17,520 Speaker 1: them were wearing space suits. The Soya's capsule itself wasn't 690 00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:22,160 Speaker 1: even really accommodating space suits. It wasn't designed to accommodate people, 691 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:24,480 Speaker 1: because obviously, when you're wearing a space suit, you're taking 692 00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:27,520 Speaker 1: up a lot more well space. But this prompted the 693 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:30,879 Speaker 1: Soviet Union to develop a new emergency recovery space suit 694 00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:34,160 Speaker 1: called the so Cole s O K O L and 695 00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:36,640 Speaker 1: that has been in use since nineteen seventy three on 696 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:40,319 Speaker 1: Russian space flights. The Gemini space suit was meant to 697 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:43,879 Speaker 1: serve as a transition to Apollo missions as well as 698 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,719 Speaker 1: the A one C, a space suit based off the 699 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:50,120 Speaker 1: G four C Gemini suit was intended for the first 700 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:53,520 Speaker 1: block of Apollo missions, but tragically, what would later be 701 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:58,560 Speaker 1: designated Apollo one ended in catastrophe when during a launch test, 702 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:01,480 Speaker 1: a fire broke out in the crew cabin and killed 703 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:04,600 Speaker 1: all three members of that mission. The rest of that 704 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,920 Speaker 1: phase of the Apollo mission, which was collectively referred to 705 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:10,640 Speaker 1: as Block one, was canceled, so the A one C 706 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:15,200 Speaker 1: never saw any use out in space. The second block 707 00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:19,920 Speaker 1: of Apollo missions would need suits designed for extra vehicular activity, 708 00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:24,560 Speaker 1: and this would end up being a really big move 709 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,000 Speaker 1: in NASA's history and a really big move in the 710 00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:30,520 Speaker 1: history of space suits. That is where we're going to 711 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:34,520 Speaker 1: pick up with the next episode in this series. We'll 712 00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:37,520 Speaker 1: pick up with the the creation of the Apollo space suits. 713 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:43,120 Speaker 1: We'll talk about the issues of what happens when you 714 00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:46,520 Speaker 1: go from flying very short space missions to very long 715 00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:52,040 Speaker 1: space missions aboard spacecraft that do not yet have a toilet, 716 00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:56,759 Speaker 1: because that was a thing. In other words, the next 717 00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:59,040 Speaker 1: episode is going to be growny, y'all. It's gonna be 718 00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:02,480 Speaker 1: gross to on Max, so I hope you join me 719 00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:05,279 Speaker 1: for that one. But we'll also talk about how the 720 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:08,000 Speaker 1: space suit evolved further, what it was like during the 721 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:12,520 Speaker 1: Space Shuttle era, and why NASA was looking to update 722 00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:16,200 Speaker 1: it because really spacesuits had not received a massive updates 723 00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:19,400 Speaker 1: since the Space Shuttle era. But that'll all come in 724 00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:22,160 Speaker 1: our next episode. If you have suggestions for topics I 725 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:25,120 Speaker 1: should cover in future episodes of Tech Stuff, please reach 726 00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:27,439 Speaker 1: out to me and let me know what those are. 727 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:29,360 Speaker 1: The best way to do that is over on Twitter 728 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:33,000 Speaker 1: the handle for The show is Text Stuff hs W 729 00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:42,360 Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff 730 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,600 Speaker 1: is an I heart Radio production. For more podcasts from 731 00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:49,400 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 732 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:51,480 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.