OT - Space-X

[Graham.]

If anything goes wrong they can always Rendezvous with that electric car up there, and drive back...

[John]

What are those astronauts wearing? They look like "workwear" rather than presure suits - so why the helmet with visor?

[Jonathan]

They are supposedly Space-X designed space suits. Mot sure I would trust them or the rocket.

Jonathan

[newshound]

It's a new suit specifically for SpaceX. Remember that you have got used to seeing Russian suits!

[Tim Streater]

Why not?

[Pancho]

You have to be a brave man to trust any rocket. New outfits tend to be less reliable, teething problems, etc.

[Jethro_uk]

As one of the Apollo (Mercury ?) astronauts said, there is a moment when you are sitting on the top that you remember the whole thing was built by the lowest bidder ...

[newshound]

Five million parts each made by the lowest bidder

[Paul]

"According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is responsible for sending the mannequin-manned Tesla Roadster into space, Starman's spacesuit is "the actual production design" that astronauts will wear on future missions.

SpaceX has not released any specs on the suit's materials or functionality, however, beyond what Musk told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday (Feb. 6): "It definitely works," Musk said. "You can just jump in a vacuum chamber with it, and it's fine."

This is good news for the non-mannequin cosmonauts who might wear similar SpaceX suits aboard a capsule bound for the International Space Station later this year. But in low-pressure environments, like the vacuum of space, humans run into all sorts of bodily problems: trapped gases expand, oxygen (O2) doesn't flow properly and unconsciousness is imminent.

Suits like Starman's are designed to provide a backup source of pressure to keep astronauts safe in the event of a sudden spacecraft cabin depressurization, John Charles, president of the Space Medicine Association, told Live Science in an email.

There are more dangers to space than vacuums, however, and it's not likely that you'll see a real astronaut braving space in such skimpy attire as Starman's.

According to Musk, the SpaceX suit is intended for intravehicular use only. Wearing a suit like Starman's on an actual spacewalk would not only expose the wearer to stellar selfie opportunities, but also ? and more importantly ? to temperatures ranging from +121C to -156C, a bath of unobstructed stellar radiation and a dearth of oxygen that would leave a real astronaut dead within minutes.

"Obviously, the SpaceX suit ? and any other suit ? by itself would be useless without the spacecraft or portable life support systems to make it functional," Charles said. "Without a life support system to supply pressurization and O2, as well as CO2 removal, you're not going to last long at all due to anoxia (lack of oxygen), hypercapnia (too much CO2) and ebullism (gas bubbles in the blood)."

The NASA equivalent of Starman's garb is the orange "pumpkin suit" you might recognize from so much launch footage. Officially, it's known as the Advanced Crew Escape Space Suit System (ACES). Beyond pressurization, a fully decked-out ACES provides astronauts with an emergency breathing system, liquid cooling system, automatic-inflation parachute and even emergency rations of drinking water. (SpaceX has not announced whether its sleek suits offer any of those features.)

Even with all this gear, though, astronauts would still be vulnerable to the severe temperatures and radiation of space, Charles said.

"When NASA was looking at flying [ACES] aboard Orion for the asteroid redirect mission, the plan was to upgrade the ACES to the MACES with modified gloves, a thermal and micrometeoroid outer garment and a portable life support system to perform just a couple of extravehicular activities (EVAs)," Charles said.

"So, using a launch/entry suit in space is feasible, but again, it is all about the environment and life support supplies," Charles said. "

"A single connection point on the suit thigh attaches life support systems, including air and power connections," the agency said. "The helmet is custom manufactured using 3D-printing technology and includes integrated valves, mechanisms for visor retraction and locking, and microphones within the helmet's structure. "

Before riding with the visor open, the suit is checked for leaks, under pressure (5PSI above cabin pressure). If it's needed in an emergency, the above suggests you hook up the plumbing to your thigh, then close the visor, then pressurize. The suit pressure would be reduced compared to earth, and might be 5PSI while the suit is at vacuum on a containment failure. The suits don't pressurize to 14.7PSI necessarily. Then the suit, and the area over your chest, are pressurized to the same level as the gas pressure entering your nose. And the "mixture" coming in through the hose, determines your fate at that pressure.

"Operating pressure

... a space suit using pure oxygen must have a pressure of about 32.4 kPa (240 Torr; 4.7 psi), equal to

20.7 kPa (160 Torr; 3.0 psi) partial pressure of oxygen 5.3 kPa ( 40 Torr; 0.77 psi) CO2 6.3 kPa ( 47 Torr; 0.91 psi) water vapor pressure "

And the water vapor is there, to prevent damage to the lungs by using dry gas.

If you used a different gas mixture, the suit pressure level would be higher and the suit would need more reinforcement.

The ISS is in LEO, so the radiation level is at LEO-level. It's not at the nasty level of GEO (which has more of an impact on electronics and makes using older processors a better choice for CPUs).

Paul

[Tim Streater]

Just like your car, then.

[Bob Eager]

Due to another window obscuring the rest of this post, I thought some nutter was talking about star signs!

[Martin Brown]

Your car is much less likely to disintegrate or explode spectacularly shortly after ignition if the slightest thing goes wrong though. Space flight is a very unforgiving engineering environment.

[Jethro_uk]

It's the 2 minutes or so shaking the ****ing rocket through the atmosphere (either way) that's the peril.

As Apollo 13 showed, once *in* space, there's an amazing amount of resilience to draw on.

Both shuttle disasters happened on the up/down bit. (And sadly Apollo 1 happened before the "up" bit :( ).

[Tim+]

I wondered about those. Look like film costumes. Apparently not suitable for EVAs but good enough for short term depressurisation. Presumably mobility is fairly seriously compromised if the ship depressurises but is ?good enough? to ensure survival and return.

Tim

[Tim Streater]

Really? Gosh, who knew? I thought it was all like Dan Dare and Star Wars.

OTOH, much has been learnt since Apollo, which was quite a successful programme, all in all.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

Nasa uses simpler suits inside capsules these days. They can supply oxygen but I don't imaging they are of much use outside of that!

I do wish somebody would tell the boss of Space X to shut up about stuff he knows nothhing about, He may know about electric cars and rockets but the other stuff he wibbles on about does him no favours. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I think they build pretty good hardware, as they have a lot of experienced people mostly poached from other aerospace companies.. snigger

Brian

[Vir Campestris]

If you are an American who wants to work on manned space flight where else do you go?

I imagine the quote poaching unquote was pretty easy.

Andy

[Vir Campestris]

That sounds like a lot of CO2 to me. Equivalent to about 5% at sea level. I've queried it.

Andy