How an astronaut’s space suit works

There is little about an astronaut that is more iconic than the clothing they wear. The mental image is clear, a person dressed in white, apparently heavy, a closed helmet and walking slowly. But, after all, why is the space suit like that? Well, like everything else in space exploration, the suit is worn that way for a reason.

The space suit, as you can imagine, is extremely technological and has a series of functions, such as regulating the temperature of the body, protecting it from the almost absolute vacuum of space, from the sun’s rays, which are stronger outside the Earth, controlling the pressure of the artery, and even protect from impact with existing small objects in the space.

The slowness of the astronauts, even on solid ground, demonstrates that the suits do not have to be light at all, which is true, the suit weighs an average of 130 kg, but it is worth remembering that in zero gravity the weight ends up being less. But the weight is not just the clothes, but all the equipment that the professionals carry, which is what keeps them alive off the Earth.

Can you wear space suits on Earth?

Some suits developed in the 1970s by researchers from the then Soviet Union (USSR) are still used today for other purposes. At the time, longer missions were impossible, as they could, over time, cause failure and muscle atrophy. To try and solve the problem, the Russians developed what became known as the Adeli costume.

These suits have even been used to this day, but not only as a space suit, but as a stimulus for people with cerebral palsy, in order to avoid atrophy and flaccidity of the muscles of these patients. But on the other side of the Cold War, the development of space suits was also pretty cool.

Who invented space suits

The development of American clothing was not driven by a revolutionary company that produced technological clothing, but by a manufacturer of bras and girdles called Playtex. The company was led by a group of seamstresses and engineers, an automobile mechanic and a television technician. The dispute was a real fight of David against Goliath, in this case two Goliaths.

Playtex beat out the other competitors in competence, with a fully malleable suit, which went up against the others, which had a series of solid plates that looked more like armor. One of them even went through the door of the space capsule, while the other’s helmet exploded when subjected to pressure greater than exists in space.

Why is the spacesuit white?

Another important point in the imagination in relation to space clothing is the colors, almost always white or silver. It has a reason that goes beyond functionalism to better reflect the sun’s rays and reduce heat. The choice of silver and white was due to the fact that in the 20th century these colors were seen as “the colors of the future” (just look at the clothes of the characters in the animation “The Progenitors”).

For this reason, even suits that did not pass NASA tests, such as the one from Playtex, received this colouring, as silver objects were synonymous with the future for people of that time. So, in addition to functionality, the useful was combined with the pleasant, with very useful colors for those in the space, with the marketing strategy of saying that they were, precisely, technological.

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Source: Olhar Digital