Alexander Gerst Tests his Spacesuit for EVA

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst testing his spacesuit on the International Space Station in preparation for 7 October 2014 when he will venture into open space with NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman on a seven-hour spacewalk.

Their main job is to move a failed cooling pump that was left in a temporary location by previous spacewalkers to its final position.

Alexander and Reid will then install a unit that will allow the Station’s robotic arm to remain powered even when it is being relocated.

This sortie will be the 27th US-led spacewalk. Reid has the callsign EV1 and will be wearing the suit with red stripes, while Alexander will be EV2 without stripes.

The two spacewalkers will work together, independently. To start, Reid will set up the new home for the pump while Alexander retrieves the unit from further along the Station's truss. Reid will then begin their second task of installing the arm power unit, stopping at times to refasten Alexander's tether to let him move around safely.

The duo will fix the pump to its final resting place together and then work in unison on the robotic arm.

Spacewalks are carefully choreographed affairs requiring meticulous planning and perfect coordination between the astronauts and ground control.

ESA's lead mission director for Space Station Expeditions 41 and 42, Alex Nitsch, is responsible for the European part of Alexander's Blue Dot mission.

Based at the Columbus Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, Alex notes: "Preparing and rehearsing for a spacewalk takes weeks and involves all the partners at the Station control centres in Houston, USA and Moscow, Russia."

European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti wears a NASA spacesuit

European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy wears a NASA spacesuit ahead of spacewalk training inside the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a giant training pool near the Johnson Space Center in Houston. 

Cristoforetti will launch to the International Space Station on Nov. 24 to join the orbiting lab's Expedition 42 crew. 

NASA astronaut Terry Virts and Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov will join her. 

Credit: NASA, ESA

NASA Next Generation Life Support (NGLS)

NASA NGLC project is working on more efficient heating and cooling, longer lasting, nearly maintenance free, systems, more durable fabrics, and more dextrous gloves.

New oxygen recovery systems might utilise local planetary materials: ‘in-situ’ consumables.

he Next Generation Life Support (NGLS) project will develop key technologies to enable critical capabilities in Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Portable Life Support System (PLSS), life support oxygen recovery, and life support water recovery required to extend human presence beyond low Earth orbit into the solar system.

Portable Life Support System (PLSS)

The selected technologies within each of these areas are focused on increasing affordability, reliability, and vehicle self-sufficiency while decreasing mass and enabling long duration exploration.

The primary project goal is to advance technologies in three key areas of life support to a technology readiness level (TRL) of 5 and infuse the technologies into Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) system demonstrations.

Within each of the prescribed focus areas identified in the FY 2013 Space Technology Program Resource Guidance (PRG), the most challenging (or high payoff) technology development opportunities were chosen to be included as part of this project.

If successfully developed, the selected opportunities will provide new capabilities not found in existing NASA systems.

The PLSS development effort is specifically focused on the prototyping and testing of next generation suit components required for heat rejection, pressure regulation, and carbon dioxide and humidity removal.

All of the spacecraft life support system technology development efforts are focused on advanced technologies for improving system closure (i.e., recovering or recycling a larger amount of the life support consumables) to enable long duration space exploration.

NASA's Z-2 Spacesuit concepts: Futuristic Astronaut Suit Design

NASA Z2 "Trends in Society" spacesuit design is based on what every day clothes may look like in the not-too-distant future. 

The 'Trend in Society' suit uses electroluminescent wire and a bright colour scheme to mimic the appearance of sportswear and the emerging world of wearable technologies. 

The design specifically includes gore pleats with contrast stitching throughout to highlight mobility, an exposed bearing at the hip, and electroluminescent wire and patches of varying styles across both the upper and lower torso. 

Image released March 24, 2014.

The three NASA Z-2 designs are called Biomimcry, Technology, and Trends in Society (pictured above).

The Biomimicry suit draws on the fact that Earth’s oceans are quite similar to outer space: “Mirroring the bioluminescent qualities of aquatic creatures found at incredible depths, and the scaly skin of fish and reptiles found across the globe, this design reflects the qualities that protect some of Earth’s toughest creatures,” says the NASA Z-2 website.

The electroluminescent wire makes the astronaut visible in low-light.

The Technology suit is basically the same deal, but with a sci-fi design aesthetic instead.

The suits will also support the new rover-based suitport/suitdock concept, a new spin on airlocks, where the suit itself forms part of the airlock system.

If we ever send humans to Mars or Titan or some other extraplanetary body, rover-based suitports will likely be used.

Please visit Nasa Beyond Earth website to get all the latest updates and photos on the Z-2 and other advanced spacesuit news.

NASA Space suit issue prompts delay of second spacewalk

In this image made from video provided by NASA, astronaut Rick Mastracchio performs a space walk outside the International Space Station on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013. 

Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins ventured out of the station to try to revive a crippled cooling line. 

AP Photo/NASA

Astronauts removed an old space station pump Saturday, sailing through the first of a series of urgent repair spacewalks to revive a crippled cooling line.

The two Americans on the crew, Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, successfully pulled out the ammonia pump with a bad valve—well ahead of schedule.

That task had been planned for the next spacewalk, originally scheduled for Monday but now delayed until Tuesday, Christmas Eve, because of the need for a suit swap.

"An early Christmas," observed Mission Control as Mastracchio tugged the refrigerator-size pump away from its nesting spot.

If Mastracchio and Hopkins keep up the quick work, two spacewalks may be enough to complete the installation of a spare pump and a third spacewalk will not be needed as originally anticipated.

Several hours after Saturday's spacewalk ended, Mission Control bumped spacewalk 2 to Tuesday to give Mastracchio enough time to prepare a spare suit.

His original suit was compromised when he inadvertently turned on a water switch in the air lock at the end of Saturday's excursion.

NASA officials said Saturday night that it's unclear whether a third spacewalk will be needed and when it might occur, if required.

A third spacewalk had been slated for Christmas Day before the latest turn of events. NASA requires a day off between spacewalks for astronaut rest.

The space station breakdown 10 days earlier left one of two identical cooling loops too cold and forced the astronauts to turn off all nonessential equipment inside the orbiting lab, bringing scientific research to a near-halt and leaving the station in a vulnerable state.

Mission Control wanted to keep the spacewalkers out even longer Saturday to get even further ahead, but a cold and uncomfortable Mastracchio requested to go back.

The spacewalk ended after 5½ hours, an hour short on time but satisfyingly long on content.

Earlier, Mastracchio managed to unhook all the ammonia fluid and electrical lines on the pump with relative ease, occasionally releasing a flurry of frozen ammonia flakes that brushed against his suit.

A small O-ring floated away, but he managed to retrieve it.

"I got it, I got it, I got it. Barely," Mastracchio said as he stretched out his hand.

"Don't let that go, that's a stocking stuffer," Mission Control replied.

"Don't tell my wife," Mastracchio said, chuckling, as he put it in a small pouch for trash.

Mastracchio, a seven-time spacewalker, and Hopkins, making his first, wore extra safety gear as they worked outside.

NASA wanted to prevent a recurrence of the helmet flooding that nearly drowned Luca Parmitano, an ESA Italian astronaut last summer, so Saturday's spacewalkers had snorkels in their suits and water-absorbent pads in their helmets.

To everyone's relief, the spacewalkers remained dry while outside. But midway through the excursion, Mastracchio's toes were so cold that he had to crank up the heat in his boots.

Mission Control worried aloud whether it was wise to extend the spacewalk to get ahead, given Mastracchio's discomfort.

Not quite two hours later, Mastracchio had enough as he clutched the old pump.

When Mission Control suggested even more get-ahead chores, he replied, "I'd like to stow this old module and kind of clean up and call it a day."

He said a couple of things were bothering him, not just temperature, and declined to elaborate when asked by Mission Control what was wrong.

Flight controllers obliged him. Once the old pump was secured to a temporary location, the spacewalkers started gathering up their tools to go in.

Adding to the excitement 260 miles (418 kilometers) up, a smoke alarm went off in the space station as the astronauts toiled outside. It was quickly found to be a false alarm.

The pump replacement is a huge undertaking attempted only once before, back in 2010 on this very unit.

The two astronauts who tackled the job three years ago were in Mission Control, offering guidance.

Mastracchio promised to bring back a wire tie installed on the pump by the previous spacewalkers. "Oh, awesome, thanks Rick," replied the astronaut in Mission Control who put it on.

The 780-pound (354-kilogram) pump is about the size of a double-door refrigerator and extremely cumbersome to handle, with plumbing full of toxic ammonia.

Any traces of ammonia on the spacesuits were dissipated before the astronauts went back inside, to avoid further contamination.

NASA's plan initially called for the pump to be disconnected in the first spacewalk, pulled out on the second spacewalk and a fresh spare put in, and then all the hookups of the new pump completed in the third outing.

NASA rigs up snorkel in ISS spacesuit after risky water leak

Michael Hopkins

US astronaut Michael Hopkins waves on September 26, 2013 before the launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan 

Snorkels in space? 

NASA dreamed up the idea as a quick fix to a dangerous spacesuit problem so astronauts can step out to repair an equipment breakdown at the International Space Station.

One of the two US astronauts preparing to embark on a series of spacewalks later this week and next will be wearing an American-made suit that had a helmet leak in July, nearly drowning the European astronaut who wore it.

The three emergency spacewalks are planned for December 21, 23 and 25 in order to fix a broken cooling system at the orbiting outpost.

Luca Parmitano

An investigation into the cause of the leak that flooded ESA's Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano's helmet and forced him to rush back inside the station in July is still ongoing, NASA officials told reporters Wednesday.

Therefore, faced with an unexpected valve failure last week in the system that regulates the temperature of equipment aboard the 15-year-old orbiting outpost, NASA engineers had to scramble to figure out a way to make the US spacesuits safe for use.

First off, they have replaced the water pump system in the suit Parmitano wore.

In addition, an extra helmet absorption pad has been installed at the inside back of the helmet to soak up any potential leak, and a snorkel has been rigged up to offer another breathing route if needed.

"Some smart engineers on the ground were able to figure out, 'Hey this is a similar diameter to a snorkel that you have for scuba diving,'" said NASA lead spacewalk officer Allison Bolinger.

"By just sacrificing one of our spares on board they were able to come up with a way to just snip off the ends and then file it so it is not rough in the crew member's mouth and then apply Velcro."

Rick Mastracchio

American astronaut Mike Hopkins will be wearing the suit Parmitano wore. Both he and fellow US astronaut Rick Mastracchio will have the new snorkels and pads inside their spacesuits as a safety measure.

Their task is to remove the pump module with the faulty valve and replace it with a spare pump that was already aboard the ISS.

Even though the formal investigation into the leaking helmet has not been completed, NASA officials said they were confident that their back-up solutions would allow the astronauts to be safe on their risky outings.

Engineers design spacesuit tools, biomedical sensors

Several Kansas State University engineering students are working with a model spacesuit to explore how wearable medical sensors can be used in future space missions to keep astronauts healthy. 

Credit: Kansas State University

Kansas State University researchers are improving astronauts' outerwear for outer space.

The collaborative team—which includes electrical and computer engineering professors and more than a dozen students—envisions a future spacesuit that could monitor astronauts' health and use body heat to power electronics.

By working with a model spacesuit, the engineers are exploring how wearable medical sensors can be used in future space missions to keep astronauts healthy.

William Kuhn

The project is supported by a three-year, $750,000 NASA grant and involves the College of Engineering's electrical and computer engineering department, the Electronic Design Laboratory and the College of Human Ecology, including the kinesiology department and the apparel, textiles and interior design department.

William Kuhn, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Steven Warren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, are two key faculty members working on the engineering portion.

Steven Warren

"This project supports a number of undergraduate and graduate students in doing systems-level engineering research and making them the technologists of the future," Kuhn said.

The project involves five parts, with several students involved in each part:

Kansas State University engineers are developing new energy harvesting methods that use body heat and a spacesuit's cooling garment to power radios and other electronics inside the spacesuit. 

Credit: Kansas State University

• Developing and testing biosensors that can monitor astronauts' vital data, such as breathing rate or muscle activity.
• Creating a specialized wireless network so that spacesuit biosensors can communicate with each other and with a space station.
• Using energy harvesting technology to power radios and biosensors while an astronaut is in a spacesuit.
• Building hardware prototypes for biosensors and energy harvesting electronics.
• Producing spinoff technologies, such as new radio technologies and devices that apply to home care.

"This project is a good example of how when you do something in space, everything needs to be rethought—human elements and nonhuman elements of the system," Warren said.

"We have a lot to learn about human physiology and what happens to a person as they physically change in a reduced-gravity environment."

NASA ISS EVA Cancelled because of Water Leak in Spacesuit

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano takes a moment to say hello to NASA's Chris Cassidy during their spacewalk, July 9, 2013. 

This was the first of two Expedition 36 excursions to prepare the International Space Station for a new Russian module and perform additional installations on the station’s backbone.



NASA aborted a planned six-hour spacewalk by two astronauts outside the International Space Station today (July 16) when one of the spacewalkers reported "a lot of water" inside his spacesuit helmet, a potentially scary situation.

European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano reported that helmet started filling with water, making it difficult for him to continue the spacewalk outside of the International Space Station.

The spacewalk ended after one hour and 32 minutes. It was supposed to last six hours and 15 minutes. The crew was in no immediate danger during the spacewalk, NASA officials said.

"There is some in my eyes, and some in my nose," Parmitano said. "It's a lot of water."

This is the second shortest spacewalk in history. The shortest — lasting only 14 minutes — happened in 2004 when astronaut Mike Fincke had a pressurization problem in his oxygen tank.

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Parmitano began their spacewalk today at 7:57 a.m. EDT (1157 GMT). They wore NASA-issue spacesuits called Extravehicular Mobility Units, or EMUs. It ended at 9:29 a.m. EDT (1329 GMT).

Parmitano reported the water in his spacesuit about one hour and nine minutes into the spacewalk. The cause of the water leak isn't yet known, but the tasks scheduled for the spacewalk can be deferred until a later excursion, NASA officials said

NASA’s new Buzz-Lightyear-inspired spacesuit.

NASA’s new Buzz-Lightyear-inspired spacesuit. Complement with the fascinating design history of the first Apollo spacesuit

ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano: Really likes his space suit!

ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano (@astro_luca) is a European astronaut of Italian nationality, currently training for ISS expedition 36.

NASA ISS EVA: Russians Outfit the ISS

Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka (top), Expedition 32 commander; and Yuri Malenchenko, flight engineer, participate in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) to continue outfitting the International Space Station. 

During the five-hour, 51-minute spacewalk on August 20, 2012, Padalka and Malenchenko moved the Strela-2 cargo boom from the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya module to prepare Pirs for its eventual replacement with a new Russian multipurpose laboratory module. 

The two spacewalking cosmonauts also installed micrometeoroid debris shields on the exterior of the Zvezda service module and deployed a small science satellite.

Image Credit: NASA

ISS: Suspected Leaky Valve Delays Russian Cosmonaut EVA

This still image from a NASA TV broadcast shows how Russian cosmonauts will move a crane outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on Aug. 20, 2012.

CREDIT: NASA TV

A suspected leaky valve on the International Space Station stalled the start of a spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts for nearly an hour today (Aug. 20), forcing them to wait in bulky spacesuits until it was deemed safe to venture outside.

Veteran cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko were preparing to begin their space station spacewalk when the leak was detected during air pressure tests.

Russian flight controllers at the station's Mission Control Center in Moscow asked the cosmonauts to stay put until the leaky valve could be isolated.

Padalka, the space station's commander, agreed.

"We're in no rush," Padalka radioed Mission Control in Russian, which was translated in a NASA broadcast.

Flight controllers spent almost an hour trying to isolate the leaky valve and monitoring air pressure inside the station's airlock and adjoining modules.

Ultimately, they radioed good news to the spacewalkers — the leak was resolved and it was safe to proceed. It was welcome news for the cosmonauts.

"We're just hanging here and it's kind of boring," Padalka said.

At 11:37 a.m. EDT (1337 GMT) — nearly an hour late — the two cosmonauts finally opened the space station's airlock hatch and prepared to get to work.

Spacesuit Makes You Feel Like You're On Mars - YouTube

What would it feel like to be an astronaut on Mars?

Daniel Schildhammer of the Austrian Space Forum is testing a spacesuit this week that simulates the conditions a person would experience in the Martian environment.

The outfit mimics Mars's lower atmospheric pressure and is equipped for extreme temperatures, with an onboard computer that controls a heating and cooling system based on information from a network of sensors.

 Headphones allow the wearer to communicate wirelessly with colleagues on smartphones, with a radio backup should the main system fail.

Compared to the first version of the suit, which was tested in 2009, the current model is equipped with more robust electronics and a better voice recognition system to control field instruments.

But according to Gernot Groemer, the team leader, there are still improvements to be made. "The goal is to create a simulation that's so realistic that by closing your eyes, you would think you were on Mars," he says.

The suit is being tested in ice caves at Dachstein mountain in Austria to simulate astrobiology experiments.

It is designed to collect samples without contaminating the external environment as long as the right procedures are followed. These are currently being evaluated at the site.

Fashioning Apollo: How the Spacesuit was Developed, Against the Odds

"On July 12, 1969, only 21 layers of fabric, most gossamer-thin, stood between Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and the lethal desolation of a lunar vacuum."

So begins UC Berkeley architecture professor Nicholas de Monchaux’s Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo — a fascinating voyage into the sartorial history of space flight through the parallel history of one of its key technologies: the spacesuit.

Blending material science, iconic photography, and intriguing trivia (did you know that the Apollo mission’s computer-backup system was crafted into a binary pattern that was then physically woven into ropes?), the book itself is cleverly constructed as a series of layers corresponding to the 21 layers of the Apollo spacesuit.

NASA: A Spacesuit Ballet - YouTube

Of the suit he wore on the moon, Neil Armstrong wrote, "it was tough, reliable, and almost cuddly." But that cuddly suit, made by the company Playtex, had some stiff competition (literally) from rival rigid, metal designs. This video features archival NASA footage of mobility tests for several spacesuit prototypes. Music is from the band One Ring Zero's album "Planets".

Spacesuit lets you feel like an astronaut on Mars

What would it feel like to be an astronaut on Mars?

Physicist Daniel Schildhammer wears the Aouda.X spacesuit simulator during a field test of Oesterreichisches Weltraum Forum (Austrian space forum) inside the Eisriesenhoehle (giant ice cave) at Dachstein mountain near the village of Obertraun April 28, 2012.

The outfit mimics Mars's lower atmospheric pressure and is equipped for extreme temperatures, with an onboard computer that controls a heating and cooling system based on information from a network of sensors.

Headphones allow the wearer to communicate wirelessly with colleagues on smartphones, with a radio backup should the main system fail.

Compared to the first version of the suit, which was tested in 2009, the current model is equipped with more robust electronics and a better voice recognition system to control field instruments.

However, according to Gernot Groemer, (www.ostina.org) the team leader, there are still improvements to be made. "The goal is to create a simulation that's so realistic that by closing your eyes, you would think you were on Mars," he says.

The suit is being tested in ice caves at Dachstein mountain in Austria to simulate astrobiology experiments. It is designed to collect samples without contaminating the external environment as long as the right procedures are followed. These are currently being evaluated at the site.

ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano‏: In Training for ISS mission

ESA's Italian Astronaut, Luca Parmitano‏ (@astro_luca), in training for ISS mission at JSC Houston. Waiting in the simulation airlock, going through his spacesuit checks, prior to an EVA.

ESA Astronaut Samantha Preparing for EVA Simulation in NBL Tank

ESA Astronaut Samantha Christoforetti getting help from 3 burley men to don the waterproof underwater test suit, needed to complete her second Zero-gravity style workout and EVA Simulation in the NBL tank.

EVA Spacewalking helmet

EVA Spacewalking helmet, fully loaded: 3 videocams, old lights and new LEDs, plus nose pad to clear ears inside.

NASA Spacesuit Development - Interview with Amy Ross, Engineer

Part I: NASA's designing new spacesuits! Watch this interview with Amy Ross, a NASA Johnson Spacesuit engineer! Follow Nasa Johnson on Twitter at @NASA_Johnson

Part II: