A spacesuit is not just a suit. This is a spaceship that follows the shape of the body. And it appeared long before the first flights into space. At the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists already knew that conditions in space and on other planets were very different from those on Earth. For future space flights, it was necessary to come up with a suit that would protect a person from the effects of deadly external environment.

The spacesuit is a miracle of technology, a space station in miniature... It seems to you that the spacesuit is full, like a handbag, but in fact everything is made so compactly that it is simply beautiful... In general, my spacesuit looked like a first-class car, and my helmet - on a Swiss watch.
Robert Heinlein “I have a spacesuit - I’m ready to travel”

Spacesuit Forerunners

The name "diving suit" comes from a French word coined in 1775 by the mathematician abbot Jean-Baptiste de La Chapelle. Naturally, about space flights in late XVIII century there was no talk - the scientist suggested calling diving equipment that way. The word itself, which can be translated from Greek roughly as “boat-man,” unexpectedly entered the Russian language with the advent of the space age. In English, the spacesuit remained a “space suit”.

Diving suits of Jean-Baptiste de La Chapelle.

The higher a person climbed, the more urgent was the need for a suit that would help him take another step towards the sky. If at an altitude of six to seven kilometers an oxygen mask and warm clothes are enough, then after the ten-kilometer mark the pressure drops so much that the lungs stop absorbing oxygen. To survive in such conditions, you need a sealed cabin and a compensating suit, which, when depressurized, compresses the human body, temporarily replacing external pressure.

However, if you rise even higher, this painful procedure will not help either: the pilot will die from oxygen starvation and decompression disorders. Only decision- make a completely sealed spacesuit in which the internal pressure is maintained at a sufficient level (usually at least 40% of atmospheric pressure, which corresponds to an altitude of seven kilometers). But even here there are enough problems: an inflated spacesuit makes movement difficult, and it is almost impossible to perform precise manipulations in it.

The English physiologist John Holden published a series of articles in the 1920s in which he proposed using diving suits to protect balloonists. He even built a prototype of such a spacesuit for the American aeronaut Mark Ridge. The latter tested the suit in a pressure chamber at a pressure corresponding to an altitude of 25.6 kilometers. However, balloons for flight in the stratosphere have always been expensive, and Ridge was unable to raise the funds to set a world record with Holden's suit.

In the Soviet Union, an engineer from the Institute worked on spacesuits for high-altitude flights. aviation medicine Evgeny Chertovsky. Between 1931 and 1940 he developed seven models of pressurized suits. All of them were far from perfect, but Chertovsky was the first in the world to solve the problem associated with mobility. After the suit was inflated, the pilot needed a lot of effort just to bend the limb, so in the Ch-2 model the engineer used hinges. The Ch-3 model, created in 1936, contained almost all the elements that are found in a modern space suit, including absorbent linen. The Ch-3 was tested on the TB-3 heavy bomber on May 19, 1937.

The first high-altitude spacesuits of the USSR: Ch-3 (1936) and SK-TsAGI-5 (1940)

In 1936, the science fiction film “Space Flight” was released, in the creation of which Konstantin Tsiolkovsky participated. The movie about the upcoming conquest of the Moon so captivated the young engineers of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) that they began to actively work on prototypes of space suits. The first sample, designated SK-TsAGI-1, was designed, manufactured and tested surprisingly quickly - in just one year, 1937.

The suit really gave the impression of something extraterrestrial: the upper and lower parts were connected using a belt connector; shoulder joints appeared to facilitate mobility; the shell consisted of two layers of rubberized fabric. The second model was equipped with an autonomous regeneration system designed for six hours of continuous operation. In 1940, based on the experience gained, TsAGI engineers created the last pre-war Soviet spacesuit SK-TsAGI-8. It was tested on the I-153 Chaika fighter.

After the war, the initiative passed to the Flight Research Institute (LII). Its specialists were tasked with creating suits for aviation pilots, which quickly conquered new heights and speeds. Serial production was not possible for one institute, and in October 1952, engineer Alexander Boyko created a special workshop at plant No. 918 in Tomilino, near Moscow. Nowadays this enterprise is known as NPP Zvezda. It was there that the spacesuit for Yuri Gagarin was created.

Spacesuits for dogs (Belka in the photo) were made simpler: the animals did not need to do complex work.

First flights

When in the late 1950s soviet engineers-designers began designing the first Vostok spacecraft; they initially planned that a person would fly into space without a spacesuit. The pilot would be placed in a sealed container that would be fired from the lander before landing. However, such a scheme turned out to be cumbersome and required lengthy testing, so in August 1960, Sergei Korolev’s bureau redesigned the internal layout of the Vostok, replacing the container with an ejection seat. Accordingly, to protect the future astronaut in the event of depressurization, it was necessary to quickly create a suitable suit. There was no time left for docking the spacesuit with the on-board systems, so they decided to make a life support system placed directly in the seat.

The suit, designated SK-1, was based on the Vorkuta high-altitude suit, which was intended for pilots of the Su-9 interceptor fighter. Only the helmet had to be completely redone. For example, it had a special mechanism installed, controlled by a pressure sensor: if it dropped sharply, the mechanism instantly slammed the transparent visor.

The first cosmonaut in not the first spacesuit: Yuri Gagarin in SK-1.

Each spacesuit was made to individual measurements. For the first space flight, it was not possible to “sheath” the entire team of cosmonauts, which at that time consisted of twenty people. Therefore, we first identified six who showed the best best level preparation, and then - the three “leaders”: Yuri Gagarin, German Titov and Grigory Nelyubov. Spacesuits were made for them first.

One of the SK-1 spacesuits was in orbit before the cosmonauts. During the unmanned test launches of the Vostok spacecraft, carried out on March 9 and 25, 1961, a humanoid mannequin in a spacesuit, nicknamed “Ivan Ivanovich,” was on board along with the experimental mongrels. A cage containing mice and guinea pigs was installed in his chest. A sign with the inscription “Layout” was placed under the transparent visor of the helmet, so that casual witnesses of the landing would not mistake it for an alien invasion.

The SK-1 spacesuit was used in five manned flights of the Vostok spacecraft. Only for the flight of Vostok-6, in the cabin of which Valentina Tereshkova was, was the SK-2 spacesuit created, taking into account the peculiarities of female anatomy.

Valentina Tereshkova in the “ladies’” spacesuit SK-2. The first Soviet spacesuits were bright orange to make it easier to find the landing pilot. But spacesuits for outer space are better suited to white, which reflects all rays.

The American designers of the Mercury program followed the path of their competitors. However, there were also differences that should have been taken into account: the small capsule of their ship did not allow it to remain in orbit for a long time, and in the first launches it had to only reach the edge of outer space. The Navy Mark IV space suit was created by Russell Colley for naval aviation pilots, and it differed favorably from other models in its flexibility and relatively low weight. To adapt the suit to the spacecraft, several changes had to be made - primarily to the helmet design. Each astronaut had three individual spacesuits: for training, for flight and reserve.

The Mercury program spacesuit demonstrated its reliability. Only once, when the Mercury 4 capsule began to sink after splashdown, the suit almost killed Virgil Grissom - the astronaut barely managed to disconnect from the ship’s life support system and get out.

Spacewalk

The first spacesuits were rescue suits; they were connected to the ship’s life support system and did not allow spacewalks. Experts understood that if space expansion continued, then one of the mandatory stages would be the creation of an autonomous spacesuit in which it would be possible to work in outer space.

At first, for their new manned program “Gemini,” the Americans wanted to modify the “Mercurian” Mark IV spacesuit, but by that time the G3C high-altitude sealed suit, created for the X-15 rocket plane project, was completely ready, and they took it as a basis. In total, three modifications were used during the Gemini flights - G3C, G4C and G5C, and only G4C spacesuits were suitable for spacewalks. All spacesuits were connected to the ship's life support system, but in case of problems, an autonomous ELSS device was provided, the resources of which were enough to support the astronaut for half an hour. However, the astronauts did not have to use it.

It was in the G4C spacesuit that Edward White, the pilot of Gemini 4, made a spacewalk. This happened on June 3, 1965. But by that time he was not the first - two and a half months before White, Alexey Leonov went on a free flight next to the Voskhod-2 ship.

The crew of Voskhod-2, Pavel Belyaev and Alexey Leonov, in Berkut spacesuits.

The Voskhod ships were created to achieve space records. In particular, on Voskhod-1 the crew from three cosmonauts- for this, the ejection seat was removed from the spherical descent vehicle, and the cosmonauts themselves went on flight without spacesuits. The Voskhod-2 spacecraft was being prepared for one of the crew members to go into outer space, and it was impossible to do without a pressurized suit.

The Berkut spacesuit was developed specifically for the historic flight. Unlike the SK-1, the new suit had a second sealed shell, a helmet with a light filter and a backpack with oxygen cylinders, the supply of which was enough for 45 minutes. In addition, the astronaut was connected to the ship by a seven-meter halyard, which included a shock-absorbing device, a steel cable, an emergency oxygen supply hose and electrical wires.

The Voskhod-2 spacecraft launched on March 18, 1965, and at the beginning of the second orbit, Alexey Leonov left the board. Immediately, the crew commander Pavel Belyaev solemnly announced to the whole world: “Attention! Man has entered outer space! The image of an astronaut soaring against the background of the Earth was broadcast on all television channels. Leonov was in the void for 23 minutes 41 seconds.

Although the Americans lost the lead, they quickly and noticeably overtook their Soviet competitors in the number of spacewalks. Off-ship operations were carried out during flights Gemini 4, -9, -10, -11, 12. The next Soviet exit did not take place until January 1969. That same year, Americans landed on the moon.

Records in a vacuum

Today, spacewalks will not surprise anyone: at the end of August 2013, 362 spacewalks were recorded. total duration 1981 hours 51 minutes (82.5 days, almost three months). And yet there are some records here.

Absolute record holder for number of hours spent in outer space, Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyov has remained for many years - he made 16 exits with a total duration of 78 hours 46 minutes. In second place is American Michael Lopez-Alegria; he made 10 exits with a total duration of 67 hours and 40 minutes.

The longest was the exit of Americans James Voss and Susan Helms on March 11, 2001, which lasted 8 hours and 56 minutes.

Maximum number of exits per flight- seven; this record belongs to Russian Sergei Krikalev.

Longest on the surface of the Moon Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were there: over three missions in December 1972, they spent 22 hours and 4 minutes there.

If we compare countries, not astronauts, the United States is undoubtedly the leader here: 224 exits, 1365 hours 53 minutes outside the spacecraft.

Spacesuits for the Moon

On the Moon, completely different spacesuits were required than in Earth orbit. The suit was supposed to be completely autonomous and allow a person to work outside the ship for several hours. It was supposed to provide protection from micrometeorites and, most importantly, from overheating in direct sunlight, since the landings were planned on lunar days. In addition, NASA built a special inclined stand to find out how reduced gravity affects the movement of astronauts. It turned out that the nature of walking changes dramatically.

The suit for the flight to the Moon was improved throughout the Apollo program. The first version of the A5L did not satisfy the customer, and soon the A6L spacesuit appeared, to which a thermal insulation shell was added. After the fire on January 27, 1967 on Apollo 1, which led to the death of three astronauts (including the above-mentioned Edward White and Virgil Grissom), the suit was modified to the fire-resistant version A7L.

By design, the A7L was a one-piece, multi-layer suit covering the torso and limbs, with flexible joints made of rubber. Metal rings on the collar and sleeve cuffs were intended for the installation of sealed gloves and an “aquarium helmet”. All spacesuits had a vertical “zipper” that ran from the neck to the groin. The A7L provided four hours of work for astronauts on the Moon. Just in case, there was also a backup life support unit in the backpack, designed to last for half an hour. It was in the A7L spacesuits that astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walked on the Moon on July 21, 1969.

The last three flights of the lunar program used A7LB spacesuits. They were distinguished by two new joints on the neck and belt - such a modification was needed in order to make it easier to drive the lunar car. Later, this version of the spacesuit was used at the American orbital station Skylab and during the international Soyuz-Apollo flight.

Soviet cosmonauts were also going to the Moon. And a “Krechet” spacesuit was prepared for them. Since, according to the plan, only one crew member was supposed to land on the surface, a semi-rigid version was chosen for the spacesuit - with a door on the back. The astronaut did not have to put on a suit, as in the American version, but literally fit into it. Special system cables and a side lever made it possible to close the lid behind you. The entire life support system was located in a hinged door and did not work outside, like the Americans, but in a normal internal atmosphere, which simplified the design. Although Krechet never visited the Moon, its developments were used to create other models.

Birds of Prey of Space

In 1967, flights of the new Soviet Soyuz spacecraft began. They were to become the main means of transport in the creation of long-term orbital stations, so the potential time that a person had to spend outside the ship inevitably increased.

The "Yastreb" spacesuit was basically similar to the "Berkut" one, which was used on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft. The differences were in the life support system: now the respiratory mixture circulated inside the suit in a closed circuit, where it was cleared of carbon dioxide and harmful impurities, fed with oxygen and cooled. In the Hawks, cosmonauts Alexei Eliseev and Yevgeny Khrunov moved from ship to ship during the flights of Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 in January 1969.

The cosmonauts flew to orbital stations without rescue suits - due to this, it was possible to increase the supplies on board the ship. But one day space did not forgive such freedom: in June 1971, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev died due to depressurization. The designers had to urgently create a new rescue suit, Sokol-K. The first flight in these spacesuits was carried out in September 1973 on Soyuz-12. Since then, when cosmonauts go on flights on domestic Soyuz spacecraft, they always use variants of the Falcon.

It is noteworthy that the Sokol-KV2 spacesuits were purchased by Chinese sales representatives, after which China got its own space suit, called, like the manned spacecraft, “Shenzhou” and very similar to the Russian model. The first taikonaut Yang Liwei went into orbit in such a spacesuit.

The spacesuits from the “Falcon” series were not suitable for going into outer space, therefore, when the Soviet Union began to launch orbital stations that made it possible to construct various modules, an appropriate protective suit was also needed. It became “Orlan” - an autonomous semi-rigid spacesuit created on the basis of the lunar “Krechet”. You also had to get into the Orlan through a door in the back. In addition, the creators of these spacesuits managed to make them universal: now the legs and sleeves were adjusted to the height of the astronaut.

Orlan-D was first tested in outer space in December 1977 at the Salyut-6 orbital station. Since then, these spacesuits in various modifications have been used on Salyut, the Mir complex and the International Space Station (ISS). Thanks to the spacesuit, astronauts can maintain contact with each other, with the station itself and with the Earth.

The Orlan series spacesuits turned out to be so good that the Chinese modeled their “Feitian” for spacewalks. On September 27, 2008, this operation was performed by taikonaut Zhai Zhigang during the flight of the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft. It is characteristic that upon leaving he was insured by his partner Liu Boming in an Orlan-M purchased from Russia.

Dangerous space

Spacewalks are dangerous for many reasons: deep vacuum, extreme temperatures, solar radiation, space debris and micrometeorites. Moving away from the spacecraft also poses a serious danger.

The first dangerous incident occurred with Alexei Leonov in March 1965. Having completed the program, the astronaut was unable to return to the ship due to the fact that his spacesuit was inflated. Having made several attempts to enter the airlock feet first, Leonov decided to turn around. At the same time, he reduced the level of excess pressure in the suit to critical, which allowed him to squeeze into the airlock.

An incident involving damage to the suit occurred during the flight of the space shuttle Atlantis in April 1991 (mission STS-37). A small rod pierced the glove of astronaut Jerry Ross. By a lucky chance, depressurization did not occur - the rod got stuck and “sealed” the resulting hole. The puncture was not even noticed until the astronauts returned to the ship and began checking their spacesuits.

Another potentially dangerous incident occurred on July 10, 2006, during the second spacewalk of the Discovery astronauts (flight STS-121). A special winch was detached from Pierce Sellers' spacesuit, which prevented the astronaut from flying into space. Having noticed the problem in time, Sellers and his partner were able to attach the device back, and the work was completed successfully.

Spacesuits of the future

The Americans have developed several spacesuits for the Space Shuttle reusable spacecraft program. When testing a new rocket and space system, the astronauts wore SEES - a rescue suit borrowed from military aviation. In subsequent flights it was replaced by the LES variant, and then by the more advanced ACES modification.

The EMU spacesuit was created for spacewalks. It consists of a hard upper part and soft pants. Like Orlan, EMUs can be used multiple times by different astronauts. You can safely work in space for seven hours, with a backup life support system providing another half hour. The condition of the suit is monitored by a special microprocessor system, which warns the astronaut if something goes wrong. The first EMU went into orbit in April 1983 on the Challenger spacecraft. Today, spacesuits of this type are actively used on the ISS along with the Russian Orlans.

NASA deep space suits: A7LB lunar suit, EMU shuttle suit and I-Suit experimental suit.

Americans believe that EMU is obsolete. NASA's promising space program includes flights to asteroids, a return to the Moon and an expedition to Mars. Therefore, a spacesuit is needed that would combine the positive qualities of rescue and work suits. Most likely, it will have a hatch behind its back, allowing the suit to be docked to a station or habitable module on the surface of the planet. To bring such a spacesuit into working condition (including sealing), it takes a matter of minutes.

The Z-1 spacesuit prototype is already being tested. For a certain external resemblance to the costume of the famous cartoon character, it was nicknamed “Buzz Lightyear’s spacesuit.”

Experts have not yet decided what suit a person will wear for the first time to set foot on the surface of the Red Planet. Although Mars has an atmosphere, it is so thin that it easily lets through solar radiation, so the person inside the spacesuit must be well protected. NASA experts are considering a wide range of possible options: from a heavy, rigid Mark III spacesuit to a lightweight, tight-fitting Bio-Suit.

Promising Bio-Suit spacesuit (prototype). Conquer Mars while staying stylish!

∗∗∗

Technologies for manufacturing spacesuits will develop. Costumes for space will become smarter, more elegant, more sophisticated. Perhaps someday there will be a universal shell that can protect a person in any environment. But even today, spacesuits are a unique product of technology that, without exaggeration, can be called fantastic.

aslan wrote in April 12th, 2017

Few people know that only one component was fully prepared and tested for the Soviet expedition to the Moon - the Krechet lunar space suit. More less people they know how it works.

With the development of jet aviation, the problems of protecting and rescuing the crew during high-altitude flights arose seriously. As pressure drops, it becomes increasingly difficult for the human body to absorb oxygen, a common person without any problems it can be at an altitude of no more than 4-5 km. At high altitudes, it is necessary to add oxygen to the inhaled air, and from 7-8 km a person generally must breathe pure oxygen. Above 12 km, the lungs completely lose the ability to absorb oxygen - pressure compensation is required to rise to a higher altitude.

Today there are only two types of pressure compensation: mechanical and created around a person gas environment with excess pressure. A typical example of a solution of the first type is high-altitude compensation flight suits - for example, VKK-6, used by MiG-31 pilots. In the event of depressurization of the cabin, such a suit creates pressure, compressing the body mechanically. This costume is based on a rather ingenious idea. The pilot's body is entangled with ribbons resembling a figure eight.

A rubber bladder is inserted into the smaller hole. In the event of depressurization, compressed air is supplied to the chamber, it increases in diameter, correspondingly reducing the diameter of the ring entangling the pilot. However, this method of pressure compensation is extreme: a trained pilot in a compensating suit can spend no more than 20 minutes in a depressurized cabin at an altitude. And it is impossible to create uniform pressure on the entire body with such a suit: some areas of the body are overtightened, some are not compressed at all.

Another thing is a spacesuit, which is essentially a sealed bag in which excess pressure is created. The time a person spends in a spacesuit is practically unlimited. But it also has its drawbacks - limiting the mobility of the pilot or astronaut. What is a spacesuit sleeve? In practice, this is an air beam in which excess pressure is created (in spacesuits, a pressure of 0.4 atmospheres is usually maintained, which corresponds to an altitude of 7 km). Try bending an inflated car inner tube. A bit difficult? Therefore, one of the best-kept secrets in spacesuit production is the technology for producing special “soft” joints. But first things first.

"Vorkuta"
The first spacesuits, manufactured before the war at the Leningrad Institute named after. Gromov, were created for research purposes and were used mainly for experimental flights on stratospheric balloons. After the war, interest in spacesuits was renewed, and in 1952, a special enterprise for the production and development of such systems was opened in Tomilin near Moscow - Plant No. 918, now NPP Zvezda. During the 50s, the company developed a whole line of experimental spacesuits, but only one of them, Vorkuta, created for the Su-9 interceptor, was produced in a small series.

Almost simultaneously with the release of Vorkuta, the company was given the task of developing a spacesuit and rescue system for the first cosmonaut. Initially, the Korolev Design Bureau issued Zvezda a technical assignment for the development of a spacesuit that was entirely connected to the ship’s life support system. However, a year before Gagarin’s flight, a new assignment was received - for a conventional protective suit, designed to save the astronaut only during his ejection and splashdown.

Opponents of the spacesuits considered the likelihood of the ship depressurizing to be extremely low. Another six months later, Korolev again changed his mind - this time in favor of spacesuits. Ready-made aviation spacesuits were taken as a basis. There was no time left for docking with the ship’s on-board system, so an autonomous version of the spacesuit’s life support system was adopted, located in the cosmonaut’s ejection seat.

The shell for the first space suit SK-1 was largely borrowed from Vorkuta, but the helmet was made completely new. The task was set extremely strictly: the spacesuit had to save the astronaut! No one knew how a person would behave during the first flight, so the life support system was built in such a way as to save the astronaut even if he lost consciousness - many functions were automated. For example, a special mechanism was installed in the helmet, controlled by a pressure sensor. And if it fell sharply in the ship, a special mechanism instantly slammed the transparent visor, completely sealing the spacesuit.

Layer by layer
Spacesuits consist of two main shells: an internal sealed shell and an external power shell. In the first Soviet spacesuits, the inner shell was made of sheet rubber using a simple gluing method. The rubber, however, was special; high-quality natural rubber was used for its production. Starting with the Sokol rescue suits, the sealed shell became rubber-fabric, but in spacesuits intended for spacewalks, there is no alternative to sheet rubber yet.

“Lunar” spacesuit of astronauts participating in the Apollo missions.

The outer shell is fabric. Americans use nylon for it, we use the domestic analogue, nylon. It protects the rubber shell from damage and keeps its shape. It’s hard to come up with a better analogy than a soccer ball: a leather outer cover protects the inner rubber bladder from football players’ boots and ensures the ball’s geometric dimensions remain unchanged.

Conduct long time no person can do it in a rubber bag (those who have army experience of forced marches in a rubberized combined arms protective kit will understand this especially well). Therefore, every spacesuit must have a ventilation system: through some channels, conditioned air is supplied to the entire body, through others it is sucked out.

According to the method of operation of the life support system, spacesuits are divided into two types - ventilation and regeneration. In the first, simpler in design, the used air is thrown out, similar to modern scuba gear. The first SK-1 spacesuits, Leonov’s spacewalk suit “Berkut” and light rescue suits “Falcon” were designed according to this principle.

Thermos
For a long stay in space and on the surface of the Moon, long-term regeneration suits were required - “Orlan” and “Krechet”. In them, the exhaled gas is regenerated, moisture is removed from it, the air is saturated with oxygen and cooled. In fact, such a spacesuit replicates in miniature the life support system of an entire spacecraft. Under the spacesuit, the astronaut wears a special mesh water-cooling suit, all pierced with plastic tubes containing coolant. Heating problems in exit suits (intended for spacewalks) never arose, even if the astronaut worked in the shade, where the temperature rapidly drops to -100C.

The fact is that the outer overalls ideally serve as heat-protective clothing. For this purpose, screen-vacuum insulation, operating on the principle of a thermos, was used for the first time. Under the outer protective shell of the overalls there are five to six layers of a special film made of a special polyethylene, terifthalate, with aluminum sprayed on both sides. In a vacuum, heat exchange between film layers is possible only due to radiation, which is reflected back by the mirror aluminum surface. External heat transfer in a vacuum in such a spacesuit is so small that it is considered equal to zero, and only internal heat transfer is taken into account in the calculation.

For the first time, screen-vacuum thermal protection was used on the Berkut, in which Leonov went into outer space. However, under the first rescue suits, which did not work in a vacuum, they wore a TVK (thermal protective ventilated suit), made of warm quilted material, in which the ventilation lines were laid. This is not the case in modern Falcon rescue suits.

In addition to all this, the astronauts wear cotton underwear with a special antibacterial impregnation, under which there is the last element - a special bib with telemetric sensors attached to it, transmitting information about the state of the astronaut’s body.

Falcons
Spacesuits were not always on ships. After six successful flights of the Vostoks, they were recognized as useless cargo, and all further ships (Voskhod and Soyuz) were designed to fly without standard spacesuits. It was advisable to use only external spacesuits for spacewalks. However, the death of Dobrovolsky, Volkov and Patsayev in 1971 as a result of depressurization of the Soyuz-11 cabin forced us to return to a proven solution. However, the old spacesuits did not fit into the new ship. They urgently began to adapt the “Falcon” light suit, originally developed for the T-4 supersonic strategic bomber, to suit space needs.

The task was not easy. If during the landing of the Vostok the cosmonaut ejected, then the Voskhod and Soyuz carried out a soft landing with the crew inside. It was only relatively soft - the impact upon landing was noticeable. The shock was absorbed by the Kazbek energy-absorbing chair, developed by the same Zvezda. “Kazbek” was molded individually for each cosmonaut who lay in it without a single gap. Therefore, the ring to which the spacesuit helmet is attached would certainly break the astronaut’s cervical vertebra upon impact.

It was found in Sokol original solution- a sector helmet that does not cover the back of the spacesuit, which is made soft. A number of emergency systems and a heat-protective layer were also removed from the Falcon, since in the event of a splashdown when leaving the Soyuz, the cosmonauts had to change into special suits. The life support system of the spacesuit was also greatly simplified, designed for only two hours of operation.

As a result, “Falcon” became a bestseller: since 1973, more than 280 of them have been produced. In the early 90s, two Falcons were sold to China, and the first Chinese cosmonaut flew to conquer space in an exact copy of the Russian spacesuit. True, unlicensed. But no one has sold spacesuits for outer space to the Chinese, so they don’t even plan to go into outer space yet.

Cuirassiers
In order to facilitate the design and increase the mobility of external spacesuits, there was a whole direction (primarily in the USA) that studied the possibility of creating all-metal rigid spacesuits reminiscent of deep-sea diving suits. However, the idea found partial implementation only in the USSR. The Soviet spacesuits "Krechet" and "Orlan" received a combined shell - a hard body and soft legs and arms. The body itself, which designers call a cuirass, is welded from individual elements from aluminum alloy AMG type. This combined scheme turned out to be extremely successful and is now being copied by the Americans. And it arose out of necessity.

The American lunar spacesuit was made according to the classical design. The entire life support system was located in a leaky backpack on the astronaut's back. Soviet designers might also have followed this scheme, if not for one “but”. Soviet power lunar rocket The N-1 made it possible to deliver only one astronaut to the Moon, unlike two American ones, and it was not possible to put on a classic spacesuit alone. That's why the idea of ​​a rigid cuirass with a door on the back for entry inside was put forward.

A special cable system and a side lever made it possible to securely close the lid behind you. The entire life support system was located in a hinged door and did not operate in a vacuum, like the Americans, but in a normal atmosphere, which simplified the design. True, the helmet had to be made not rotating, as in early models, but monolithic with the body. The view was compensated by a much larger glass area. The helmets in the spacesuits themselves are so interesting that they deserve a separate chapter.

Helmet everyone's head
Helmet - the most important part spacesuit. Even in the “aviation” period, spacesuits were divided into two types - masked and maskless. In the first, the pilot used an oxygen mask through which an air mixture was supplied for breathing. In the second, the helmet was separated from the rest of the spacesuit by a kind of collar, a sealed neck curtain. This helmet played the role of a large oxygen mask with a continuous supply of breathing mixture. As a result, the maskless concept won, which provided better ergonomics, although it required higher flow oxygen for breathing. Such helmets migrated into space.

Space helmets were also divided into two types - removable and non-removable. The first SK-1 was equipped with a non-removable helmet, but Leonov’s “Berkut” and “Yastreb” (in which Eliseev and Khrunov moved from ship to ship in 1969) had removable helmets. Moreover, they were connected by a special hermetic connector with a hermetic bearing, which made it possible for the astronaut to turn his head. The turning mechanism was quite interesting.

The newsreel footage clearly shows the cosmonauts' headsets, which are made of fabric and thin skin. They are equipped with communication systems - headphones and microphones. So, the convex headphones of the headset fit into special grooves in the hard helmet, and when you turned your head, the helmet began to rotate along with your head, like the turret of a tank. The design was quite cumbersome and was later abandoned. On modern spacesuits, the helmets are not removable.

A mandatory element of a helmet for spacewalks is a light filter. Leonov had a small internal airplane-type filter, coated with a thin layer of silver. When going into space, Leonov felt a very intense heating of the lower part of his face, and when looking towards the Sun, the protective properties of the silver filter turned out to be insufficient - the light was dazzlingly bright. Based on this experience, all subsequent spacesuits began to be equipped with full external light filters sputtered with a fairly thick layer of pure gold, providing only 34% of light transmission. The most big square glazing - at Orlan.

Moreover, the latest models even have a special window on top to improve visibility. It is almost impossible to break the “glass” of the helmet: it is made of heavy-duty Lexan polycarbonate, which is also used, for example, in glazing the armored cabins of combat helicopters. However, the Orlan costs as much as two combat helicopters. They don’t name the exact price, but they suggest focusing on the cost American analogue— $12 million.

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Samples of the first high-altitude spacesuits (from left to right): spacesuit Ch-Z (USSR, mid-30s); Willie Post's spacesuit (USA, mid-30s); spacesuit SK-TsAGI-8 (USSR, 1940); spacesuit VSS-04 (USSR, 1950).

The first space suits. What they were like. Oh, what a romantic theme, especially for those who were born in those days when man seriously set his sights on space, to conquer marvelous distant planets... but that was a long time ago, alas, now humanity has taken a different course, a course to nowhere. (But that's another topic.

Each of us has seen on television, in movies or in photographs how astronauts walk to the rocket at the launch site in their space attire - in spacesuits. But not everyone will probably be able to accurately answer a simple question: why does an astronaut need a spacesuit? What exactly is this equipment that restricts human movement for? And, in particular, why is it in a spaceship, where all the necessary conditions for life and work have been created.

A spacesuit for spacewalks from the Salyut-6 orbital station.

The human body is adapted to life in the conditions of the earth's atmosphere and cannot exist outside of it without special means of protection, without an artificial habitat created for it. During flight, the main means of protecting an astronaut from the effects of adverse factors in outer space is the spacecraft itself, its pressurized cabin. However, flight safety requirements sometimes require personal protective equipment. For example, during periods of flight when you need to take into account the possibility of depressurization of the cabin or failure of the on-board life support system. Well, when leaving the ship into outer space, the spacesuit becomes the only protection for a person.

Space suits (from left to right): rescue suit used during the flight of Yu. A. Gagarin on the Vostok spacecraft (1961); a spacesuit (shown without a heat-protective shell), used by A. A. Leonov to work in outer space during the flight on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft (1965); the spacesuit used by A. S. Eliseev and E. V. Khrunov during the transition through outer space from the Soyuz-5 spacecraft to the Soyuz-4 spacecraft (1969); spacesuit used to walk on the Moon in the Apollo program (1969).

Now let’s move on from these general considerations to specific factors that determine the need for such protective equipment as a spacesuit.

During a flight aboard the Salyut-6 orbital station, Yu. V. Romanenko prepares his spacesuit for a spacewalk. (Photo taken by G. M. Grechko).

Man in airless space

It is known that barometric pressure decreases with distance from the Earth's surface. If normal pressure at sea level is 760 mm Hg, then already at an altitude of 12 km it decreases by 5 times, and at an altitude of 50 km - by 1000 times. At the flight altitude of orbital spacecraft, the pressure is approximately 10-6-10-8 mm Hg. Art., that is, it is billions of times less than on Earth.

Rescue suit for flights on Soyuz spacecraft.

Oxygen, which is vital for a person, is absorbed by him from the inhaled air and at the same time, during the process of breathing, carbon dioxide is removed from the body. To do this, even at rest, a person pumps up to 450 liters of air per hour through his lungs. The oxygen content in the atmosphere is 21% by volume and remains almost constant for different heights. Therefore, oxygen always accounts for about a fifth of atmospheric pressure; at the Earth’s surface this is 160 mm Hg. Art. And all our complex physiological systems, over millions of years of evolution, have adapted to absorb oxygen at precisely this pressure.

With increasing altitude, the total barometric pressure decreases, and along with it the partial pressure of oxygen (the part of the total pressure of a gas mixture due to a given gas or steam) decreases. “Oxygen starvation” sets in: in order to get the required amount of oxygen, a person begins to breathe more often and deeply, and if in this case there is too little oxygen, he loses consciousness. Our body has practically no reserves of oxygen, so if a person can live without food for months, without water - up to 14 days, then without oxygen - a maximum of a few minutes.

In addition to oxygen starvation, there are other factors that make it difficult or impossible for a person to stay in conditions of low pressure. So, in particular, with a decrease in atmospheric, that is, external, pressure to a level corresponding to an altitude of 7-8 km, nitrogen dissolved in the tissues of the body passes into a gaseous state. The resulting gas bubbles can disrupt the blood supply to vital organs or cause pain by exerting mechanical pressure on the nerve endings (decompression disorders). At even higher altitudes, boiling of body fluids can occur. The water contained in the tissues already at a pressure of about 47 mm Hg. Art. (this corresponds to atmospheric pressure at an altitude of 19.2 km) boils at 37 ° C, that is, at normal body temperature.

To prevent oxygen starvation, oxygen is added to the inhaled air, increasing it percentage in such a way that the partial pressure of oxygen is a value familiar to humans - 160 mm Hg. Art. For this purpose, in particular in aviation, oxygen-breathing equipment is used complete with a mask or pressure helmet. However, already at an altitude of 12 km, where the total pressure is only 145 mm Hg. Art., even pure oxygen cannot create the required partial pressure. And at an altitude of 16 km, when breathing pure oxygen, a person loses consciousness within 15 seconds.

From all this, we need to draw the following conclusion: for flights at high altitudes, it is necessary to increase the total pressure of the gas in which a person is located and breathes, that is, it is necessary to create an environment around a person with an excess pressure exceeding Atmosphere pressure at this height. This is one of the main tasks that can be solved with the help of a spacesuit. The hermetic shell of the spacesuit isolates a person from the external environment, and an artificial atmosphere with excess pressure and the necessary gas composition is created inside the spacesuit.

The excess pressure in the atmosphere of the spacesuit must be sufficient to obtain the required partial pressure of oxygen and prevent decompression disorders. At the same time, they strive to make this pressure minimal in order to improve the mobility of the spacesuit. In practically modern space suits, the operating pressure ranges from 180 to 300 mmHg. Art. The artificial environment of a spacesuit does not necessarily have to have all the properties of the usual earthly atmosphere: if a person is in a spacesuit for a relatively short time, then one can count on certain reserves human body, allowing him to endure conditions slightly different from the norm without damage.

Problems, problems...

Work on creating spacesuits for high-altitude flights began more than 40 years ago, and our country was one of the first to join them. Since then, high-altitude spacesuits have passed big way- from a sedentary reinforced inflatable suit to a complex technical device with advanced life support systems. Devices that use the latest technology, materials science, chemistry, electronics and other fields of technology.

The development of modern space suits, especially those designed for work in outer space, requires solving a number of complex scientific and technical problems. It is necessary, in particular, to create in the spacesuit the microclimate necessary for a person (pressure, gas composition, humidity, temperature), taking into account possible emergency situations. It is necessary to protect the astronaut and the spacesuit equipment from the effects of deep vacuum and solar radiation. It is necessary to ensure the removal of heat generated by a person, and this is not so easy to do in space conditions. Finally, it is necessary to ensure the mobility of the cosmonauts and their performance, which, of course, is difficult due to excess pressure in the spacesuits. The spacesuit must be sealed, durable, lightweight, have a small volume, and ensure the safety of the astronaut. To this should be added a lot of, so to speak, auxiliary “needs”, such as, for example, the development of modeling methods external influences outer space and conditions for exiting the ship during ground tests or the creation of materials suitable for outer space conditions.

Important characteristics of the spacesuit are the speed of putting it on and ease of operation. And during long-term flights at orbital stations, when the program may provide for crew changes and several spacewalks, additional requirements begin to be placed on spacesuits. For example, I would like the spacesuit to be “adjustable” for astronauts of different heights. So that, if necessary, the spacesuit can be repaired or replaced with its individual elements.

How to hide from the sun

In calculations, the work of a person in a spacesuit outside the ship is usually assessed as moderate work, for which a person expends an average of 300 W of power. These energy costs correspond to the following vital indicators of the body: oxygen consumption - approximately 60 l/hour; carbon dioxide emissions - 48 l/hour; moisture release - 50-300 g/hour (depending on the ambient temperature and the method of cooling the body).

The necessary climatic and hygienic conditions in the spacesuit are maintained by an autonomous life support system - abbreviated as ALS - an integral part of the space suit. It is the ASOZ that must ensure the specified pressure in the spacesuit, gas composition, removal of waste products, and maintenance of the required humidity and temperature.

Particularly difficult is the task of preserving heat balance. Due to the low efficiency of a person - it usually does not exceed 20% of the entire developed power, all these average 300 W are practically converted into heat. There is no significant heat exchange between an astronaut dressed in a spacesuit and outer space: in space there is no air, there is no heat-conducting medium that, under terrestrial conditions, removes heat from our body. There is also no convection inside the spacesuit in zero gravity conditions. There is only one way of heat transfer - thermal radiation. It must be taken into account that an astronaut outside the spacecraft can work either in the zone solar lighting(on 1 m2 of the surface of a spacesuit in outer space, solar heat drops to 1200 kcal/hour), or in the shade, in conditions of extreme cosmic cold. Therefore, heat flows to or from a spacesuit can fluctuate sharply and reach great magnitudes. To protect a person and equipment from such sudden changes in heat flows, clothing with several layers of so-called screen-vacuum thermal insulation is worn over the main shell of the spacesuit, which works as a kind of multilayer thermos. In addition, the optical characteristics (“degree of blackness” - a coefficient characterizing the emissivity of the body; the absorption coefficient of solar rays) of materials for the open surfaces of the spacesuit are selected in a certain way, and special paints are also created for them. Materials and coatings are selected in such a way that external radiation is almost completely reflected while its own, internal thermal radiation is delayed. The importance of this problem is also due to the fact that the soft parts of the spacesuit require elastic materials, and they do not always withstand large temperature changes.

In outer space, outside the atmosphere, the composition of solar radiation is significantly different from what we are accustomed to on the surface of the Earth. Therefore, special requirements are placed on the transparent part of the helmet: glazing and light filters must protect the eyes and facial skin from extremely active ultraviolet rays, from infrared (heat) rays, should weaken solar radiation in the visible part of the spectrum, while ensuring good visibility under different illumination.

Microclimate in a spacesuit

The simplest way to maintain the required parameters of the gas environment in spacesuits is continuous ventilation, continuous supply of a gas mixture of a given composition into it, followed by its release into the environment. In this system itself gas mixture will carry away the heat, moisture, carbon dioxide, and harmful impurities released by the astronaut. This system, as it is called " open type“usually used on high-altitude aircraft: here you can use air taken from the surrounding atmosphere for ventilation, and only add to it the oxygen necessary for breathing. The system itself is very simple and reliable. However, for a space suit open systems too wasteful. In space, of course, there is no air, and therefore supplies of gases for ventilation must be taken with you in cylinders. And this means additional volume and weight, and, to put it mildly, considerable.

Nevertheless, open life support systems were used during the first spacewalk of A. Leonov and during work outside the ship under the Gemini program in the USA - in these cases, the time spent working in a spacesuit outside the ship was short and total consumption gases turned out to be quite acceptable.

Modern space suits mainly use regeneration-type systems, where gas circulation occurs in a closed loop and not the entire gas environment inside the suit is renewed, but only those components that change or are consumed during human life. After recovery in the coolant fluid, the gas mixture is replenished with oxygen and again used for breathing and ventilation.

As already mentioned, when creating a microclimate in a spacesuit, developers are particularly concerned about the thermal regime. Suffice it to say that even with a relatively small “heat exchange insufficiency”, just 150 kcal/hour, in a person weighing 70 kg in a spacesuit, the body temperature will increase by more than 2°C in 1 hour. And this is associated with loss of performance.

Heat transfer from the human body to the cooling unit of the automatic cooling system can be carried out using both gas (air) and liquid. With air cooling, heat is removed from the body mainly through intense sweating, and this, of course, is a serious drawback. In addition, to remove heat when intensive work The astronaut needs to pass a very large volume of gas through the spacesuit, approximately 700-1000 l/min. This, in turn, requires a fan with a power of several hundred watts, requires a lot of electricity, and strong airflow is not very pleasant for the astronaut.

Water cooling is perhaps the only possible method of maintaining acceptable thermal conditions in a spacesuit during intense work of an astronaut. To remove 300-500 kcal/h of heat, the water flow through the water cooling suit is usually 1.5-2 l/min, the required length of the cooling tubes is up to 100 meters. To pump water, a pump with a motor power of several watts is sufficient. Simultaneously with water cooling, ventilation is also needed - it carries away the released moisture and carbon dioxide, but, of course, the fan power is already many times less than with pure air cooling.

Is it easy to move in a spacesuit?

Different clothes hinder a person's movements in different ways. Compare how easy it is to raise your arm if you are wearing only a light shirt, and how difficult it is to lift it in a winter coat. The spacesuit resists body movement in a special way. Its soft shell, under the influence of internal excess pressure, always tends to take the shape of a body of rotation and straighten. It is not so easy to bend any part of it, say a sleeve or a trouser leg, and the greater the internal pressure, the more difficult it is to do so. To ensure body mobility, hinges are used in the spacesuit; they are placed in the area of ​​the main joints - shoulder, elbow, knee, ankle, fingers, etc. The design of the hinges can be different: it depends on the nature of the movements in which the hinge is involved . In addition, to increase mobility, sealed bearings are used in a number of joints (for example, in the shoulder or wrist joints), the cutting of the spacesuit shell is being improved, and lighter and more flexible materials are being developed.

When working in the first space suits, due to their relatively low mobility, the astronauts had to expend considerable additional effort, which ultimately led to the intensification of metabolic processes in the body. Because of this, in turn, it was necessary to increase the mass and dimensions of oxygen reserves, and for closed systems also carbon dioxide absorbers and cooling system units.

Despite the progress achieved since then, the problem of human mobility in a spacesuit still remains one of the main ones.

A little history

All space suits are usually divided into three classes:

rescue suits - serve to protect astronauts in the event of depressurization of the cabin or in case of significant deviations of the parameters of its gaseous environment from the norm;

spacesuits for working in outer space on or near the surface of a spacecraft;

spacesuits for working on the surface of celestial bodies.

There are also universal spacesuits; they can be used both as rescue suits and during spacewalks.

The first space suits used during flights on Vostok spacecraft were purely rescue equipment, and multi-purpose ones at that. They could provide protection for astronauts in the event of cabin depressurization, during ejection at the final stage of descent, and during a possible subsequent splashdown. By the way, such versatility, the desire to adapt a space suit to all possible flight conditions explains the significant complexity and cumbersomeness of the first space suits. I remember that when sending Yu. A. Gagarin into flight, he was first dressed in thick heat-protective clothing with a ventilation system and then only the spacesuit itself was put on. Various devices were put on top of the spacesuit in case the astronauts got into water, and an emergency radio was placed in the pocket.

For flights whose duration did not exceed several days, the cosmonauts were in spacesuits throughout the flight. This imposed many serious additional requirements: it was necessary to provide for working in a spacesuit with all the equipment of the ship, taking food and water, and using the waste disposal system. Subsequently, in particular when flying on Soyuz spacecraft, cosmonauts began to wear rescue suits only in especially critical cases: when launching into orbit, docking ships, descending from orbit to Earth, and also, of course, when going into space.

The first spacewalk in history was made, as is known, in 1965 by A. A. Leonov during a flight on the Voskhod-2 spacecraft. This practically proved that a person can work in outer space. In subsequent years, several more lengthy spacewalks were carried out by Soviet cosmonauts from the Soyuz 5 spacecraft and American astronauts from the Gemini, Apollo and Skylab orbital stations.

It should be noted that the main operating modes of a rescue suit differ significantly from the operating modes of a spacesuit intended for work in outer space. The rescue suit should be as convenient as possible for working inside a sealed cabin, that is, in an uninflated state - only in an emergency does the rescue suit automatically inflate. And a spacesuit for going into space must be designed for the astronaut’s continuous work under internal excess pressure. A rescue suit, as a rule, works in combination with an on-board life support system, while an “exit” suit must have an autonomous life support system and have an automatic life support system organically integrated with it.

Spacesuits for the Soyuz - Salyut complex

For the space complex formed by Soyuz-type spacecraft and the Salyut-6 orbital station, it was considered advisable to have two various types spacesuits. The most lightweight “soft” spacesuit, made individually for each astronaut, is used as a rescue suit. This is, in fact, a multi-layer hermetic suit combined with a soft helmet. The upper part of the helmet with the viewing glass is folding.

The weight of the spacesuit does not exceed 8-10 kg, the thickness of the shell package is minimal, which makes it possible to use it with individual shock-absorbing seat supports, which weaken the effect of overloads during insertion into orbit and descent. The main structural element of the spacesuit is the external power shell, designed to withstand the loads created by internal excess pressure. The power shell is made of high-strength synthetic material and is equipped with a number of hinges. This spacesuit is put on through the front soft opening.

Ventilation in the rescue suit is carried out by cabin air regenerated in the on-board life support system. When the cabin is depressurized, the spacesuit is filled to the required pressure, oxygen is supplied, and carbon dioxide, moisture, and heat are removed using an autonomous on-board system. To enter space from the Salyut-6 station, spacesuits of a fundamentally new design are used - the so-called semi-rigid type. Their main distinguishing feature is a rigid metal body - a cuirass. It is integral with the helmet and backpack life support system; the sleeves and shells of the spacesuit's trousers are soft. This spacesuit is not worn; it is entered from behind, through a hatch in the cuirass. In the back part of the spacesuit there is a liquid cooling system, which at the same time serves as a hermetic cover of the entrance hatch. A semi-rigid spacesuit is used for the first time in world space flight practice. He has the following undeniable advantages:

Ease and speed of putting on (or, more precisely, “entering” the spacesuit): you can put on and take off a spacesuit prepared for work in literally 2-3 minutes, and without outside help;

Ease of use and high reliability: in the suit there are no external pneumohydrocommunications connecting it with the backpack, where the automatic fluid supply system is located; the controls are conveniently placed on the rigid body of the spacesuit (previously used spacesuits soft type, for example, the spacesuit of the Apollo spacecraft had a separate backpack with an automatic fluid control system located in it; this backpack was worn over the spacesuit and, naturally, was connected to it by a number of flexible pipelines and cables, which, when exiting the ship, also fall into difficult conditions open space;

High tightness: sealing of the entry point into the spacesuit is carried out using a reliable mechanical connection;

A semi-rigid spacesuit of the same size can, in principle, be used by astronauts of different builds: thanks to the rigid body, the increased gaps between the body and the shell do not play a big role, and the length of the elastic shells (sleeves, legs) is adjusted by each astronaut in accordance with his height; semi-rigid spacesuits for working in space are constantly on board Salyut-6, and can be used by anyone who arrives at the station.

It should also be noted that the dimensions of a semi-rigid spacesuit in operating mode are smaller than the dimensions of the corresponding soft spacesuit in an inflated state with a backpack on.

To ensure good mobility under excess pressure, the suit is equipped with sealed bearings and soft hinges. The gloves are removable and selected individually for each astronaut.

The autonomous life support system of the spacesuit is a closed regeneration type. It consists of a number of functionally interconnected systems. Among them:

oxygen supply system with devices for storing oxygen reserves and equipment for regulating and maintaining pressure in the suit;

a ventilation and gas composition regulation system, with units for purifying the gas environment of the spacesuit from carbon dioxide and harmful impurities;

thermal control system;

system of electrical equipment, control and monitoring of the operation of units;

radio communication system.

The thermal control system uses a water cooling suit - a mesh jumpsuit and a cap with woven thin plastic tubes through which water cooled in a heat exchanger circulates. This method of heat removal, in contrast to the heat removal method used in the spacesuits of the Voskhod-2 and Soyuz-5 spacecraft using ventilating gas, ensures normal thermal conditions inside the spacesuit at almost any level of physical activity of the cosmonaut and during a full “work shift.” The intensity of heat removal is regulated by the astronaut himself.

The suit can be reused many times to enter outer space. After each exit, you can refill the tank of the coolant cooling system circuit with water, replace the spent carbon dioxide absorption unit, refill or replace units with oxygen reserves. The main life support systems of the suit are duplicated by reserve units.

The operability of the units and equipment of the spacesuit in the deep vacuum of outer space is ensured by the selection of appropriate materials and friction pairs in the moving joints, the use of special lubricants, as well as the installation of many units inside the body of the spacesuit.

Power supply to the spacesuit units, radio communication and transmission of telemetric information from the cosmonaut to Earth are carried out using the so-called electrophase - a special multi-wire cable connecting the spacesuit systems with the Salyut-6 station. In the atmosphere inside the suit when working in space, the pressure is less than on Earth, and the oxygen content in the suit is higher. Therefore, the creation of a spacesuit and life-support system, in particular the choice of materials, development of the design of elements, instruments and assemblies, including electrical and radio equipment, were carried out taking into account increased fire safety requirements.

The creation of a spacesuit for cosmonauts to go into outer space from the Salyut-6 orbital station required a large amount of research and experimental testing of the units and the complex as a whole.

Unlike other types of space technology, which at the final stage are tested during unmanned space flights, testing of the spacesuit is carried out with mandatory participation testers in ground conditions as close as possible to full-scale conditions. Due to this great attention paid attention to modeling the operating conditions of spacesuits, automatic fluids, materials, creating methods for testing this complex in flying laboratories, in special pools (to simulate zero-gravity conditions), in thermal pressure chambers, and on simulators.

The development of a new type of spacesuit and its successful use at the Salyut-6 orbital station is a major step forward in spacesuit construction.

The tester enters a semi-rigid spacesuit designed for work in outer space; the curtain covering the units of the autonomous life support system (ALS) is folded back.

Appearance of a semi-rigid spacesuit (without a heat-insulating shell): 1 - soft parts of the spacesuit; 2 - connector for pneumatic and hydraulic communications; 3 - handle for closing the entrance hatch of the spacesuit; 4 - safety cord carabiner; 5 - valve for switching on the reserve oxygen supply; 6 - light filter; 7 - rigid body; 8 - sealed bearing; 9 - control and monitoring panel; 10 - regulator of pressure modes in the spacesuit; 11 - pressure indicator in the spacesuit; 12 - glove; 13 - power frame; 14 - plug connector.

External view of the water cooling suit (A) and water distribution diagram in it (B). 1, 2 - inlet and outlet hoses; 3 - mesh overalls; 4 - cooling tubes.

Schemes of operation of typical coolant fluids (water cooling not shown) of the open type with release into a vacuum (A), with partial regeneration (B) and complete regeneration (C). 1 - oxygen supply unit; 2 - regeneration blocks.

Typical block diagram of a coolant fluid for a regeneration type spacesuit (the coolant fluid is housed in a sealed housing, integral with the spacesuit): 1 - control and monitoring panel; 2 - internal cavity of the spacesuit and liquid cooling system; 3 - moisture separator; 4 - heat exchanger; 5 - block for absorbing carbon dioxide and other waste products; 6 - fan; 7 - water cooling suit; 8 - pump; 9 - tap for regulating water temperature; 10 - water in a closed cooling circuit; 11 - water supply regulator; 12 - water of the open cooling circuit (takes heat from the water of the closed circuit); 13 - automation and control units; 14 - emergency oxygen supply activation valve; 15 - cylinder with reserve oxygen supply; 16 - oxygen supply regulator; 17 - regulator of pressure modes in the spacesuit; 18 - main supply of oxygen; 19 - safety valve; 20 - connector for pneumatic and hydraulic communications; 21 - medical sensors; 22 - intercom.

Typical block diagram of the automatic fluid management system for a spacesuit

Some design elements of spacesuits are variants of the structure of the soft shell (A), the hinges of the soft parts of the spacesuit (B, C) and the sealed bearing (D). 1 - outer protective fabric; 2 - package of layers of enranno-vacuum insulation; 3 - power shell of the spacesuit; 4 - main hermetic shell; 5 - backup hermetic shell; 6 - lining; 7 - ventilation system tubes; 8 - ventilation gap; 9 - water cooling suit; 10 - underwear; 11 - power tie (tape, cord, cable); 12 - transverse fold; 13 - transverse cord; 14 - outer race of the bearing; 15 - inner race; 16 - sealing valve; 17 - balls.

“Science and Life” No. 6-1978. Professor G. Ilyin, candidates of technical sciences V. Ivanov, I. Pavlov.

Astronaut spacesuits are not just suits for flying in orbit. The first of them appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century. This was a time when almost half a century remained before space flights. However, scientists understood that the exploration of extraterrestrial spaces, the conditions of which differ from those familiar to us, is inevitable. That is why, for future flights, they came up with astronaut equipment that can protect a person from a deadly external environment.

Spacesuit concept

What is equipment for space flights? The spacesuit is a kind of miracle of technology. It is a miniature space station that follows the shape of the human body.

A modern spacesuit is equipped with a whole astronaut. But, despite the complexity of the device, everything in it is compact and convenient.

History of creation

The word "spacesuit" has French roots. This concept was introduced in 1775 by the mathematician abbot Jean Baptiste de Pas Chapelle. Of course, at the end of the 18th century, no one even dreamed of flying into space. The word “diving suit,” which translated from Greek means “boat-man,” was decided to be applied to diving equipment.

With the advent of the space age, this concept began to be used in the Russian language. Only here it acquired a slightly different meaning. The man began to climb higher and higher. In this regard, there was a need for special equipment. So, at an altitude of up to seven kilometers, this means warm clothes and an oxygen mask. Distances within ten thousand meters, due to a drop in pressure, require a pressurized cabin and a compensating suit. IN otherwise When depressurized, the pilot’s lungs will stop absorbing oxygen. Well, what if you go even higher? In this case, you will need a space suit. It should be quite airtight. In this case, the internal pressure in the spacesuit (usually within 40 percent of atmospheric pressure) will save the life of the pilot.

In the 1920s, a number of articles by the English physiologist John Holden appeared. It was in them that the author proposed the use of diving suits to protect the health and life of balloonists. The author even tried to implement his ideas into practice. He built a similar spacesuit and tested it in a pressure chamber, where the pressure was set corresponding to an altitude of 25.6 km. However, building balloons capable of rising into the stratosphere is not a cheap pleasure. And the American balloonist Mark Ridge, for whom the unique suit was intended, unfortunately did not raise funds. That is why Holden’s spacesuit was not tested in practice.

In our country, engineer Evgeniy Chertovsky, who was an employee of the Institute of Aviation Medicine, worked on space suits. Over the course of nine years, from 1931 to 1940, he developed 7 models of hermetic equipment. The first Soviet engineer in the world solved the problem of mobility. The fact is that when rising to a certain height, the suit swelled. After this, the pilot was forced to make great efforts even to simply bend his leg or arm. That is why the Ch-2 model was designed by an engineer with hinges.

In 1936 appeared new option space equipment. This is the Ch-3 model, containing almost all the parts present in modern spacesuits that use Russian cosmonauts. The test of this version of special equipment took place on May 19, 1937. aircraft The TB-3 heavy bomber was used.

Since 1936, cosmonaut spacesuits began to be developed by young engineers of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. They were inspired to do this by the premiere of the science-fiction film “Space Flight,” created together with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

The first spacesuit with the index SK-STEPS-1 was designed, manufactured and tested by young engineers in just 1937. Even the external impression of this equipment indicated its extraterrestrial purpose. In the first model, to connect the lower and top parts a belt connector was provided. Significant mobility was provided by shoulder joints. The shell of this suit was made of two-layer

Next option The suit was distinguished by the presence of an autonomous regeneration system designed for 6 hours of continuous operation. In 1940, the last Soviet pre-war spacesuit was created - SK-STEPS-8. This equipment was tested on the I-153 fighter.

Creation of special production

IN post-war years The initiative to design spacesuits for astronauts was taken over by the Flight Research Institute. Its specialists received the task of developing suits designed for aviation pilots conquering ever new speeds and heights. However, one institute was clearly not enough for mass production. That is why in October 1952, engineer Alexander Boyko created a special workshop. It was located in Tomilino, near Moscow, at plant No. 918. Today this enterprise is called NPP Zvezda. It was on it that Gagarin’s spacesuit was created at one time.

Flights into space

At the end of the 1950s, a new era of exploration of extraterrestrial space began. It was during this period that Soviet design engineers began designing the Vostok spacecraft, the first space vehicle. However, it was initially planned that astronaut spacesuits would not be needed for this rocket. The pilot had to be in a special sealed container, which would be separated from the descent vehicle before landing. However, this scheme turned out to be very cumbersome and, in addition, required lengthy tests. That is why in August 1960 the internal layout of the Vostok was redesigned.

Specialists from Sergei Korolev's bureau replaced the container with an ejection seat. In this regard, future cosmonauts needed protection in case of depressurization. This is what the spacesuit became. However, there was sorely not enough time for its docking with the on-board systems. In this regard, everything that was necessary for the pilot’s life support was placed directly in the seat.

The first cosmonaut spacesuits were called SK-1. They were based on the Vorkuta high-altitude suit, designed for pilots of the SU-9 interceptor fighter. Only the helmet was completely reconstructed. A mechanism was installed in it, which was controlled by a special sensor. When the pressure in the suit dropped, the transparent visor instantly slammed shut.

Equipment for astronauts was made to individual measurements. For the first flight, it was created for those who showed the best level of training. This is the top three, which included Yuri Gagarin, German Titov and Grigory Nelyubov.

It is interesting that the astronauts were in space after the spacesuit. One of the special suits of the SK-1 brand was sent into orbit during two test unmanned launches of the Vostok spacecraft, which took place in March 1961. In addition to the experimental mongrels, there was a dummy “Ivan Ivanovich” on board, dressed in a spacesuit. In this chest artificial person We installed a cage with guinea pigs and mice. And so that casual witnesses of the landing would not mistake “Ivan Ivanovich” for an alien, a sign with the inscription “Model” was placed under the visor of his spacesuit.

SK-1 spacesuits were used during five manned flights of the Vostok spacecraft. However, female astronauts could not fly in them. The SK-2 model was created for them. It was first used during the flight of the Vostok-6 spacecraft. We made this spacesuit, taking into account the structural features of the female body, for Valentina Tereshkova.

Developments of American specialists

When implementing the Mercury program, US designers followed the path of Soviet engineers, while making their own proposals. Thus, the first American spacesuit took into account the fact that astronauts in space in the future will remain in orbit longer.

Designer Russell Colley produced a special Navy Mark suit, originally intended for flights by naval aviation pilots. Unlike other models, this spacesuit was flexible and had a relatively low weight. To use this option in space programs, several changes were made to the design, which primarily affected the helmet design.

The American spacesuits have proven their reliability. Only once, when the Mercury 4 capsule splashed down and began to sink, the suit almost killed astronaut Virgil Grisson. The pilot barely managed to get out, as he could not disconnect from the on-board life support system for a long time.

Creation of autonomous spacesuits

Due to the rapid pace of space exploration, it was necessary to design new special suits. After all, the first models were only emergency rescue. Due to the fact that they were attached to the life support system of a manned spacecraft, the astronauts could not go into space wearing such equipment. To enter open extraterrestrial space, it was necessary to construct an autonomous spacesuit. The designers of the USSR and the USA took up this task.

The Americans, for their Gemini space program, created new modifications of the G3C, G4C, and G5C spacesuits. The second of them was intended for spacewalks. Despite the fact that all American spacesuits were connected to the on-board life support system, they had an autonomous device built into them. If necessary, its resources would be sufficient to support the life of an astronaut for half an hour.

On June 3, 1965, American Edward White went into outer space wearing a G4C spacesuit. However, he was not a pioneer. Two and a half months before him, Alexei Leonov visited the spacecraft next to the ship. For this historic flight, Soviet engineers developed the Berkut spacesuit. It differed from SK-1 in the presence of a second hermetic shell. In addition, the suit had a backpack equipped with oxygen cylinders, and a light filter was built into its helmet.

While in outer space, a person was connected to the ship by a seven-meter halyard, which included a shock-absorbing device, electrical wires, a steel cable and a hose for emergency oxygen supply. The historic exit into extraterrestrial space took place on March 18, 1965. It was located within 23 minutes. 41 sec.

Spacesuits for lunar exploration

After mastering the earth's orbit, man moved on. And his first goal was to fly to the moon. But for this we needed special autonomous spacesuits that would allow us to stay outside the ship for several hours. And they were created by the Americans during the development of the Apollo program. These suits provided protection for the astronaut from solar overheating and micrometeorites. The first version of lunar spacesuits developed was called A5L. However, it was later improved. The new modification of the A6L has a heat-insulating shell. The A7L version was a fire-resistant option.

Lunar spacesuits were one-piece multi-layer suits with flexible rubber joints. There were metal rings on the cuffs and collar designed to attach sealed gloves and a helmet. The spacesuits were fastened with a vertical zipper sewn from the groin to the neck.

The Americans set foot on the surface of the Moon on July 21, 1969. During this flight, the A7L spacesuits found their use.

Soviet cosmonauts were also planning to go to the Moon. For this flight, the Krechet spacesuits were created. It was a semi-rigid version of the suit, which had a special door on the back. The astronaut had to climb into it, thus putting on the equipment. The door was closed from the inside. For this purpose, a side lever was provided and complex circuit from cables. There was also a life support system inside the suit. Unfortunately, Soviet cosmonauts never managed to visit the Moon. But the spacesuit created for such flights was later used in the development of other models.

Equipment for the newest ships

Beginning in 1967, the Soviet Union began launching Soyuz. These were vehicles, intended for creation. The time spent on them by astronauts invariably increased.

For flights on Soyuz spacecraft, the Yastreb spacesuit was manufactured. Its differences from the Berkut were in the design of the life support system. With its help, the respiratory mixture was circulated inside the spacesuit. Here it was cleaned of harmful impurities and carbon dioxide, and then cooled.

The new Sokol-K rescue suit was used during the Soyuz-12 flight in September 1973. Even sales representatives from China purchased more advanced models of these protective suits. It is interesting that when the manned spacecraft "Shanzhou" was launched, the astronauts in it were dressed in equipment very reminiscent of the Russian model.

For spacewalks, Soviet designers created the Orlan spacesuit. This is an autonomous semi-rigid equipment, similar to the lunar Krechet. You also had to put it on through a door in the back. But, unlike the Krechet, the Orlan was universal. His sleeves and trouser legs were easily adjusted to the desired height.

Not only Russian cosmonauts flew in Orlan spacesuits. The Chinese made their “Feitian” based on this equipment. They went into outer space in them.

Spacesuits of the future

Today NASA is developing new space programs. These include flights to asteroids, to the Moon, and this is why the development of new modifications of spacesuits continues, which in the future will have to combine all the positive qualities of a working suit and rescue equipment. It is still unknown which option the developers will choose.

Maybe it will be a heavy, hard spacesuit that protects a person from all negative external influences, or maybe modern technologies will make it possible to create a universal shell, the elegance of which will be appreciated by future female astronauts.

Spacesuit... Space clothing... From documentary photographs (and science fiction films), cosmonauts dressed in spacesuits look at us through the raised visors of their helmets. The pages of science fiction novels show us the astronauts of the future with their indispensable props - a spacesuit. What role does a spacesuit play in space flight? Will it continue in the future? How will it change?

A modern space “suit” has one main and only purpose - it must protect a person in flight from dangers. The “fashion” of space clothing, its “cut” are entirely subordinated to this goal; its creators try to predict all possible dangers in space. The spacesuit will protect a person from the space “emptiness” bursting into the rocket if an accidental accident depressurizes the ship. He will supply the pilot with air if he suddenly becomes unable to breathe the cabin air. It can serve as a refrigerator and a heating device. If an astronaut leaves a ship returning to Earth, only the spacesuit protects him. It protects from impact with the air during ejection from a ship, from the rarefied atmosphere when descending by parachute, and protects from bruises when landing in a forest or in the mountains. And if the astronaut lands on the water, the spacesuit will keep him afloat and prevent him from freezing in the icy water.

In future space flights, there will be more work for astronauts. Accordingly, the role of the spacesuit will become more complicated.

A visit to other planets will require a special planetary spacesuit that will allow you to get out of the spacecraft, take more or less long “walks” both on the hot soil on the illuminated side of the Moon, and on the ice covers of the polar “caps”, and, perhaps, on boiling oceans of Venus.

The development of astronautics will apparently require man to leave the spacecraft into open interplanetary space, for example, to assemble orbital stations or to inspect and repair spacecraft. A spacesuit designed for outer space will differ from both the modern one and the future planetary one. Take the method of transportation, for example. You can move in outer space only with the help of a rocket engine. This means that the suit will have to have a rocket propulsion system. It can operate, for example, on compressed air.

WHAT A COSMONAUT BREATHES

Normal breathing in any situation is one of the most important tasks solved during the creation of a spacesuit. Depending on how the spacesuits are equipped, they can be divided into two types, ventilation and regeneration. If the flight proceeds normally, then air for both body ventilation and breathing is taken from the ship’s cabin. The fan forces it into the ventilation system of the spacesuit, blows it over the human body and returns to the cabin. The astronaut breathes cabin air, which freely enters the helmet when the front window is raised. But if for some reason the cabin air becomes unbreathable, the front glass of the helmet (it is lowered manually or automatically) isolates the astronaut from the cabin atmosphere, and an oxygen-air mixture will begin to flow into the suit. At the same time it switches to emergency compressed air cylinders and ventilation.
The regeneration suit is completely isolated from the environment. In this case, the gas mixture that a person breathes and that ventilates the spacesuit is forced through a chemical absorber and filter. Here it is freed from carbon dioxide, moisture and other impurities emitted by humans. Replenishment of oxygen can be carried out in several ways: either through reserves from cylinders, or through a chemical reaction, and in the future, possibly, photochemically.

An example of such a regenerative oxygen supply system is the spacesuit of American astronauts. The supply of oxygen, designed for 28 hours of flight, is stored in two spherical cylinders under pressure initially exceeding 560 atmospheres. Through a reducer, which reduces the pressure to 0.36 atmospheres, oxygen is supplied to the ventilation system of the spacesuit and mixed with the gas coming out of the hermetic helmet. The resulting gas mixture is passed through a carbon dioxide and moisture absorber, filter and heat exchanger. Pure oxygen, cooled to 18-24 degrees, comes out of this purification unit. It is fed into the spacesuit through a valve located at the level of the astronaut’s waist, and through distribution tubes (spirals lined with nylon, in which holes are made) it goes through the spacesuit, washes the body and penetrates the hermetic helmet. And then the gas mixture is sucked out of the suit by a fan and, again replenished with oxygen from cylinders, begins new cycle circulation.

Aviation spacesuits - regeneration and ventilation can be made in two versions: masked and maskless. In the first case, as the name implies, a mask is put on a person’s face, into which the respiratory mixture enters. In the second case, oxygen is supplied directly to the helmet, the person’s face remains open. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these options?

The mask allows you to create a completely independent breathing system, isolated from the ventilation system of the spacesuit. In addition, the valve device supplies a mixture of gases only at the moment of inhalation, which means that oxygen is consumed more economically. Moist exhaled air is discharged through the pipeline immediately for cleaning, without getting into the helmet and without worsening the hygienic conditions of ventilation of the spacesuit. However, there is a “but” here. Wearing a mask throughout the entire flight, especially a long one, is perhaps not entirely pleasant. It interferes with work, it is very uncomfortable to eat and drink in it.

Therefore, both the first Soviet and American cosmonauts wore maskless spacesuits during their flights. It is best if a person in space flight breathes normal, “earthly” air.

DECOMPRESSION

During the flights, the astronauts breathed cabin air, the front glass of the helmet was raised and their faces were open. There were no surprises. What if, for example, a meteorite impact broke the seal of the ship’s cabin?

A sharp drop in air pressure - explosive decompression - is a phenomenon known in high-altitude aviation. Explosive decompression is more terrible the greater the unexpected difference in air pressure. The period of time from the moment of the accident until the person loses consciousness is called reserve time. For example, experiments conducted by doctors during the years of mastering airplane flights at high altitudes showed that a sharp decrease in oxygen concentration from the normal atmosphere to the corresponding altitude of 10 kilometers leads to loss of consciousness after 40 seconds. If the vacuum corresponds to an altitude of 15 kilometers, then the reserve is reduced to 15 seconds.

When a spacecraft depressurizes, the pressure drop cannot occur instantly; it will take at least a few seconds. At this time, the astronaut will have time to lower and seal the front glass of the helmet. If he gets confused, an automatic device will do this for him.

But here a new complication appears: a pressure difference will arise inside and outside the spacesuit. The air enclosed in the suit, trying to escape from captivity, will begin to inflate, or, as experts say, load its power shell. Two undesirable consequences accompany this fact. Let's tell you more about them.

Any material stretches to a greater or lesser extent under load. The material of the power shell of the spacesuit also has this property. It’s easy to imagine what stretching a spacesuit would lead to. The helmet fits precisely on the head, the feet are shod in tightly laced boots. Under the influence of a pressure difference, the helmet will tend to come off the spacesuit, the distance between it and the boots will increase, and the spacesuit will begin to stretch the astronaut. With what force?

It is easy to calculate that with a pressure difference in the cabin and inside the suit equal to, say, 0.36 atmospheres, which corresponds to American space suits, this force reaches 200-300 kilograms. Naturally, the spacesuit must have some kind of “power” elements that absorb the load and prevent stretching. The spacesuits of American astronauts have cords that attract the helmet to the power shell. The shell itself, made of very durable fabric, has seams into which cords are sewn to strengthen it.

The second consequence of the pressure difference is limited mobility of a person in a spacesuit. What is meant here are not the inconveniences that are generally caused by the bulkiness of the spacesuit as clothing. If the spacesuit did not have special devices, then in the presence of a pressure difference it would be very difficult to even simply bend the arm, and with significant excess pressure in the spacesuit it would be completely impossible to do this. This is explained by the fact that its soft shells tend to straighten under the influence of internal pressure. Try inflating an ordinary heating pad, and then bend it - it will immediately straighten out.

In order for the astronaut to move relatively freely in his attire, the spacesuit must be equipped with special devices, for example, such as the hinges of the American space suit, called “orange peels”. They are corrugated sections of sleeves and trouser legs.

American scientists see the main difficulty in creating spacesuit hinges in the need to ensure longitudinal rigidity - to prevent the “accordion” of the joint from stretching. This is achieved by ingenious combinations of cords sliding along rollers or enclosed in guide shells.

THE EARTHLY ROLE OF A SPACE SUIT

Until quite recently, there was an opinion that there was terrifying cold in space, that the temperature there was close to absolute zero. However, according to the latest scientific data, the speeds of gas particles in interplanetary space are so high that they correspond to temperatures of thousands of degrees. Does this mean that all life in space will inevitably burn to ashes?

No, the density of interplanetary gas is so insignificant that the heat exchange with it of any body entering space is practically equal to zero. The surface temperature of a body in outer space is determined essentially by the heat exchange between this body and the Sun. And if it were not for this heat exchange, then we would have to wait many thousands of years until the temperature of a satellite launched from Earth would be equal to the temperature of particles in outer space.

What then is the role of the heat-insulating suit included in the space suit? Its purpose is mainly earthly. If a spaceship lands in cold regions of the globe, the spacesuit will protect the astronaut from any frost. Even in icy water, a person wearing a space suit can swim for many hours without fear for his health.

During a space flight, a spacesuit with its heat-insulating suit and ventilation system can provide the astronaut with comfortable temperature conditions, regardless of the temperature and humidity in the cabin of the ship and even in the event of its depressurization.

P.S. What else are British scientists talking about: that it is interesting to know what astronauts’ wedding photo books look like. Are there any photos of people wearing spacesuits? In general, it would be cool to have a wedding on a spaceship, with photos in outer space, don’t you think?