NASA Spacesuits: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo & Space Shuttle
John Williams explains the evolution of spacesuits from the early Mercury program all the way to the beginning of the Space Shuttle Program. The suits are on display at the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
_________________________________________________
Space Intelligence shares fun facts and excitement about space history, current space missions and future space exploration. John Williams is an avid fan and young space historian. His videos are designed to educate others to learn more about space history and technology.
Attributed content below:
Link: NASA
The History of Spacesuits
The Mercury Seven astronauts wearing silver-colored spacesuits
NASA's first spacesuits were very different from the ones used today.
Image Credit: NASA
› View Larger Image
Astronauts wear spacesuits to stay safe in space. Today’s spacesuits are used on the International Space Station. But NASA has used other spacesuits in the past.
What Were Early Spacesuits Like?
NASA astronauts first flew into space during the Mercury program. NASA’s first spacesuits were made for Mercury. The Mercury suits were only worn inside the spacecraft.
NASA’s first spacewalks took place during its second space program, Gemini. The suits used for Gemini were better than the Mercury suits. But the Gemini suits were simpler than today’s suits. These suits did not contain their own life support. A hose connected the astronaut to the spacecraft. The astronaut breathed oxygen from the spacecraft through the hose.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin wears a spacesuit on the lunar surface
Spacesuits worn on the moon allowed astronauts to walk around the lunar surface far from their lander.
Image Credit: NASA
› View Larger Image
How Were Moon Spacesuits Different?
Spacesuits for the Apollo program had to do things the Mercury and Gemini suits could not. They had to protect astronauts while they were walking on the moon. The Apollo suits had boots made to walk on rocky ground. Astronauts needed to walk away from the lunar lander. The Apollo suits had a life support system. The astronauts could go far away from the lander because they weren’t connected by a hose.
After the Apollo flights, astronauts orbited Earth on a space station named Skylab. Their spacesuits were like the Apollo suits in some ways. But like the Gemini suits, these suits connected to Skylab with a hose.
What Suits Did Astronauts Wear on the Space Shuttle?
During launch and landing of the space shuttle, astronauts wore orange suits. These suits could only be worn inside a spacecraft. Astronauts wore heavy white spacesuits when going on spacewalks outside the space shuttle. These same heavy white suits are sometimes used when astronauts go on spacewalks outside the space station.
Smithsonian
Military Origins
Racing to the Moon
Satellite Reconnaissance
A Permanent Presence
Illustrations
Previous pageNext page
The Race Begins
Competitors in the Race
Vostok and Voskhod
Mercury and Gemini
Space Suits
A Soviet Moonshot?
Apollo Lunar Suit
The Moon Rocket Challenge
The Moon Race Ends
MERCURY AND GEMINI
Early U.S. manned spaceflights were spectacular successes:
May 1961--American astronaut Alan Shepard went briefly into space, but not into orbit, on the Mercury 3 mission.
February 1962--John Glenn spent five hours in orbit on Mercury 6.
June 1965--Gemini IV astronaut Edward White made the first U.S. spacewalk.
Although it seemed that the U.S. still lagged behind the U.S.S.R. in space, in reality the United States was following a methodical step-by-step program, in which each mission built upon and extended the previous ones. The Mercury and Gemini missions carefully prepared the way for the Apollo lunar missions.
The one-man Mercury missions developed hardware for safe spaceflight and return to Earth, and began to show how human beings would fare in space. From 1961 through 1963, the United States flew many test flights and six manned Mercury missions.
Mercury spacecraft
50 k jpeg
NASA#: S62-04799
After Mercury NASA introduced Gemini, an enlarged, redesigned spacecraft for two astronauts. Ten manned Gemini missions were flown from 1964 through 1966 to improve techniques of spacecraft control, rendezvous and docking, and extravehicular activity (spacewalking). One Gemini mission spent a record-breaking two weeks in space, time enough for a future crew to go to the Moon, explore, and return.
Wikipedia
The Launch Entry Suit (LES), known as the "pumpkin suit", is a partial-pressure suit that was worn by all Space Shuttle crews for the ascent and entry portions of flight from STS-26 (1988) to STS-65 (1994). It was completely phased out by STS-88 (late 1998)[1][2] and replaced by the ACES suit. The suit was manufactured by the David Clark Company of Worcester, Massachusetts.