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New Spacesuit Unveiled for Starliner Astronauts
- The_Magistrate 10y agoThese are just suits meant for in-vehicle use and not meant for EVAs, correct?
- DavidSJ 10y agoCorrect. I don't think Starliner has any EVA capability in fact.
- rbanffy 10y agoIf your EVA is really short (and really, really, really needed), I imagine these will do.
- dotancohen 10y agoThat would probably be an EVOS rather than an EVA.
- santaclaus 10y ago> Touchscreen-sensitive gloves So... has anyone rocked some snapchat during a spacewalk yet?
- froindt 10y agoWho knew this is how exciting the future would be: Snapchat in space! Maybe they could make the claim of "First app used by a human in a vacuum and micro-gravity". All the startups in Silicon Valley are vying for that. /s
- dotancohen 10y agohttps://xkcd.com/713/ https://xkcd.com/713/
- derefr 10y agoHow do smartphones (and their not-really-structurally-reinforced LiPo battery cells) fare under hard vacuum, anyway?
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- ChuckMcM 10y agoSo I assume the starliner has touch screens too, when I saw those on the Dragon Crew I thought "Gee how are they going to use those in gloves?" Sking and trying to use your phone is challenging this is just flying through space :-). While not EVA suits they presumably work during a depressurization event so I wonder if they are candidates for mars suits.
- greglindahl 10y agoThey make ski under-gloves with touchscreen tips. I desperately needed under-gloves once and ended up buying the super-expensive kind from the store at the resort, they worked well with an iPhone.
- kalleboo 10y agoResistive touch screens still exist, and would probably still be preferable from a reliability point of view (I have all kinds of troubles with capacitive screens when there's sweat, humidity, low temperatures, etc)
- ChuckMcM 10y agoOddly I've found resistive touchscreens to be less reliable but anecdotes are not data so it could just be I'm unlucky. One of the interesting things I also find is that using a touch screen on CalTrain while it bounces around is difficult, I can't imagine what it will be like to hit the correct control button on the touch screen of a rocket under boost.
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- richardboegli 10y agoBoeing's announcement: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13484880 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13484880
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- tmsldd 10y agoPut the zipper to the front side. You could wear it alone without asking for help from another astronaut and save time in case of emergencies.
- Luc 10y agoYou think the issue of where to put the zipper didn't come up in the thousands of man-hours it took to design that thing?
- TheSpiceIsLife 10y agoDesign by committee? In which case the zipper is definitely in the least practical place. Anyway, it's an interesting question that possibly has some story to it which would be interesting to hear.
- Luc 10y ago> In which case the zipper is definitely in the least practical place. Argh! How would we even know it's in the least practical place? Is it because you don't put on your coat that way? These things are not designed with the same constraints. Getting into a space suit is a slow deliberate process, with people there to help.
- TheSpiceIsLife 10y agoI can think of at least one edge case where things might be different. Emergency re-entry, time to put on your suit, but everyone else is dead. But anyway, I'm just saying it would be interesting to know why certain design decisions were made, what trade-offs were considered, requirement constraints. Saying something like you reckon they didn't think of that doesn't add to the conversation.
- tmsldd 10y agoSure they thought about... anyone knows the reason for that? I see 1 case in which it would be fast to dress up (emergency reentry, as TheSpiceLife said ..see [0]) and 2 to take it as fast as possible (toilet emergency and support system failure).. Well, with all respect, a 1000 people thinking about a single point doesnt mean much.. we unfortunately saw catastrophic events caused by apparent single failures.. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11
- mbenjaminsmith 10y agoI think it's generally agreed upon that the Space Shuttle program was needlessly wasteful and more PR- than science-driven. A heavy space plane has zero advantages over a capsule for most work done in LEO. It's good to see this renewed focus on more practical designs. (If that's incorrect and you're qualified to correct me please do.) Having said that, the name Starliner writes a check that a manned capsule won't ever be able to cash. This is the first time I've heard of Boeing's Starliner and it got me really, really excited until I pulled up a picture of it. They really should have picked a less grandiose name.
- mynameisvlad 10y agoMaybe *liner will be the new naming scheme for Boeing?
- klausa 10y agoTwo next Boeing aircrafts don't have such names, although they are essentially modifications of existing ones (737 MAX and 777X).
- grinich 10y agoShuttle flew a decent number of missions for the National Reconnaissance Office, conducting secret experiments and deploying spy satellites. Most of the missions are still classified, but many folks have said the military needs drove the design of the Shuttle program. There are pretty obvious advantages to a spaceplane if your goals include capture of enemy satellites. http://www.space.com/34522-secret-shuttle-missions.html http://www.space.com/34522-secret-shuttle-missions.html It turns out a lot of science space research is heavily driven by military space presence. For example, Hubble has a 2.4m mirror because there was already a factory making that size for dozens of spy satellite. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KH-11_Kennen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KH-11_Kennen And ever heard of "The Dish" at Stanford? It's a 150-foot radio telescope the US Air Force funded during the Cold War to ostensibly "study the chemical composition of the atmosphere." Total BS. The Air Force built it to intercept signals from Soviet radar systems after they bounced off the moon. (Thankfully Stanford got to keep it and it's been used for hundreds of projects since then.)
- luckystartup 10y agoThese are still not very cool. Why is there such a big disconnect between Hollywood movies, and these real space suits? I mean, even the shade of blue isn't particularly nice. If this was a toy, I don't think it would sell very well. I know it doesn't really matter and the function is far more important than the aesthetics. But still... can they hire some of these Hollywood guys? I think Elon Musk has the right idea: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3573869/Elon-Musk-wants-create-superhero-astronauts-SpaceX-hires-Marvel-costume-designer-make-spacesuit-Mars.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3573869/Elon-... I do think these NASA suits are getting better, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_series_space_suits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_series_space_suits
- mynameisvlad 10y agoBecause Hollywood movies are not generally based in, you know, reality. They're meant to be flashy and futuristic because that is what the audience expects in sci-fi movies. Real life isn't flashy and futuristic, though, and there's a lot of requirements to the suits which aren't super exciting. So, yknow, good thing it's not a toy but a functional piece of clothing that's supposed to help astronauts do their job.
- thret 10y agoPR is certainly part of their job. I think OT has a point.
- mynameisvlad 10y agoNot really. Their job is to keep astronauts safe. Glitz and glam don't keep astronauts safe, boring does. Flashy lights and colors will most likely distract the astronauts in flight.
- njharman 10y agoWithout PR, there is no public interest, no funding, and no astronauts in flight needing protection. Why do you think there is big announcement, press event if not for PR?
- bjd2385 10y agoThe photo made me wonder if NASA had consulted Nike's marketing department.
- lorenzhs 10y agoThe shoes are Reeboks, not Nikes. I'm not even kidding: http://www.boeing.com/space/starliner/ http://www.boeing.com/space/starliner/ (scroll down to the suit and click the plus next to the shoe)
- keypusher 10y agoWhat is the benefit of having the helmet attached to the suit directly instead of detachable like the existing suits? If I was spending months in one of these aboard the space station, I think I would prefer to not have the helmet flopping around behind me all the time.
- TheSpiceIsLife 10y agoPerhaps just so that it's there if you need it?
- keypusher 10y agoMaybe they could put it on a leash.
- msl 10y agoYou don't need to wear a space suit aboard the space station. These suits are worn mostly just during launch and returning to the surface - a few hours or a couple of days at a time.
- cicero 10y agoIt's a space hoodie.
- JoeAltmaier 10y agoYou don't want to need it in a hurry, and have it in the next room.
- transfire 10y agoNext time they might want to consider hiring a professional seamstress.
- flippyhead 10y agoThey should have hired Hollywood to do the designs.
- coldcode 10y agoThe same people who wrote Armageddon? Reality and Hollywood are two unrelated concepts.
- quotha 10y ago"The most important part is that the suit will keep you alive" That's more important than the color of the suit.