High-Tech, Low Maintenance

Reminiscent of the businessman who whispered "plastics" to Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate," a new buzzword in aeronautics may be "spacesuits."

Although they aren't ready for prime time, engineers at Johnson Space Center are working on the one piece of equipment that protects and maintains the health and well-being of astronauts who may spend months at a time far above the earth's atmosphere.

This, all going on behind the scenes while all the attention focuses on NASA's new spaceship and planned missions to the moon and Mars, reports the AP.

Although it's too early in the game to know what the new suits will look like, NASA is looking for high-tech and low maintenance.

"Finding the right balance is always going to be a challenge," said veteran astronaut Jeff Williams, who has donned both the complex American suit and the spare Russian suit. "It's trade-offs."

US suits may be easier to work in for long periods of time, but their complexity means more maintenance, while the one-size-fits-all Russian suits are used a few times and thrown away, but not as easy to work in. A conundrum to be sure.

Developing new suits is certainly easier than the slide rules and drafting table used in the Apollo era; computers allow suits to be designed and re-designed before any hardware comes into play.

"There's a lot more capable tools and technology to get the job done - a lot more knowledge, as well - so we can capitalize on them," said Joe Kosmo, who was involved in the design, development, and testing of suits from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and shuttle eras.

NASA's priority is to make the next spacesuit smaller and lighter - halving the 200-pound weight that Apollo astronauts carried with their suits and life support backpack.

To accomplish this, new, lightweight composite materials and smaller electronics will come into play. NASA also wants their charges to be able to move around more easily in their suits.

Terry Hill, who's developing the new spacesuit, recalled the robotic-like hops of the Apollo astronauts broadcasting from the moon, hops that every American alive at the time recalls.

"Mostly, that was because of mobility," he said. "They just didn't have it."

The new spacesuit will be usable for launch, at the space station, and on the moon and Mars. Hill envisions swapping out the top part of the suit to fit the mission's needs, a feature he hopes will save money and cargo weight, because astronauts won't have to pack several suits. Shuttle astronauts wear bright orange suits for launch and re-entry while carrying on white spacewalking suits.

Some other "must-have" features for tomorrow's space suits include the ability to withstand extreme hot and cold temperatures, to shield radiation, and to function on very low power, as the spacesuit's oxygen-rich atmosphere can quickly turn sparks into fires.

NASA plans to award a contract in a year or so, produce the first prototypes by 2010, and certify the suit by 2012 - in time for the new spaceship Orion's maiden voyage by 2014.

Hill declined to discuss the cost of the new suits because a production contract has yet to be awarded. "Nothing's cheap."

FMI: www.nasa.gov