|
Post by Jairo on Jul 20, 2010 20:41:04 GMT -4
I read the Apollo 11 press kit, but I'm still confused. Could someone confirm this?
Each astronaut had only one suit. Armstrong and Aldrin had a torso-limb suit assembly and a thermal-micrometeoroid garment, while Collins had just a pressure suit. Is that correct?
And what combination were they using during the launch? I remember they had smaller helmets of the torso-limb suit assembly, but white clothes like the thermal-micrometeoroid garment. What was that exactly?
Thanks.
|
|
|
Post by PhantomWolf on Jul 20, 2010 22:58:15 GMT -4
The Apollo suits were all pressure suits with a fire resistant beta cloth exterior. There were differences between the CMP's suit and the moonwalkers ones, as can be seen in this photo (Collins is the middle one who is waving). You can see that his suit isn't as bulky, and doesn't have the second set of attachments on the front. The hemets are the same as used on the surface, but are missing the LEVA which makes them look smaller. All of the astronauts' suits were taliored to them, and they actually had three for each mission, one that they used for train, a suit that was used during the flight, and a backup suit that was prepared just in case something went wrong with the flight suit before launch. Only one suit for each crew member was carried on the mission though.
|
|
|
Post by Czero 101 on Jul 21, 2010 1:12:12 GMT -4
Phantomwolf: While you are right about the differences in the suits, the image you have included is not of the Apollo 11 crew, it is of the Apollo 8 crew and its CMP Jim Lovell who is waving. You can also see the Apollo 8 mission emblem on the inside of the Astrovan's door. Here's the image (found via the Apollo Image Gallery) www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a410/ap8-68-H-1333.jpgHere's another pic of CMP Jim Lovell suited up that shows a good closeup of the single set of connectors on his suit: www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a410/ap8-68-H-839.jpgThis image of the suited prime crew in front of the CM simulator (I believe) also shows the differences between the CMP and CDR/LMP suits: www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a410/ap8-68-H-1158.jpgCz The Apollo suits were all pressure suits with a fire resistant beta cloth exterior. There were differences between the CMP's suit and the moonwalkers ones, as can be seen in this photo (Collins is the middle one who is waving). You can see that his suit isn't as bulky, and doesn't have the second set of attachments on the front. The hemets are the same as used on the surface, but are missing the LEVA which makes them look smaller. All of the astronauts' suits were taliored to them, and they actually had three for each mission, one that they used for train, a suit that was used during the flight, and a backup suit that was prepared just in case something went wrong with the flight suit before launch. Only one suit for each crew member was carried on the mission though.
|
|
|
Post by ka9q on Jul 21, 2010 9:09:00 GMT -4
Note that starting with A15, the CMPs had two sets of gas connectors just like the LM crew. This was for their deep space EVAs during the trip home when they recovered film cassettes from the SIM bay instruments in the service module. One set of gas connectors was connected to the umbilical, just as the surface crew connected theirs to the PLSS, and the other set was connected to the OPS and a purge valve, again just as the surface crew had done.
With the switch to the AL7B suit, the connectors on both the CMP and lunar EVA suits were rearranged to allow the new waist joints to function.
|
|
|
Post by Jairo on Jul 21, 2010 10:26:48 GMT -4
Thank you all.
Just two more questions:
1) Did Collins have a thermal protection (was it less bulking because it was missing)?
2) Did they use any kind of cooling system while using their suits inside the modules?
|
|
|
Post by ka9q on Jul 21, 2010 12:24:43 GMT -4
I don't think Collins' suit was completely lacking in thermal protection, but it didn't have the many layers of thermal protection that Armstrong and Aldrin had in their suits.
Inside the command module cabin, when they were hooked up to its environmental control system, they were cooled by oxygen gas flow. This was sufficient since they were only dissipating heat at their basal metabolic rate (i.e., they were resting).
On the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin were exerting themselves much more heavily, and gas cooling would have been insufficient. So they wore an inner suit consisting of small water tubes, and their PLSS backpacks pumped cooling water through this inner suit to keep them from getting overheated. When they were in the lunar module, the LM environmental control system also supplied cooling water, just like the PLSS.
All this was necessary because the pressure suit itself contained excellent thermal insulation that more or less completely blocked any loss of metabolic heat from passing through the suit. So it had to be removed by other means, which during an Apollo EVA means the evaporation of water into a vacuum. Their backpacks contained a water tank for this purpose, and in the lunar module they also had a water evaporator to get rid of both metabolic and equipment heat.
|
|
|
Post by PhantomWolf on Jul 21, 2010 17:08:16 GMT -4
Phantomwolf: While you are right about the differences in the suits, the image you have included is not of the Apollo 11 crew, it is of the Apollo 8 crew and its CMP Jim Lovell who is waving. You can also see the Apollo 8 mission emblem on the inside of the Astrovan's door. Dang, you're right. Shows what happens when you use Google and don't check the results properly cause you're in a hurry.
|
|