Wearing the same extravehicular space suit! Here are the hard-core knowledge points about extravehicular space suits

Not long ago, the Shenzhou 14 astronauts went out of the cabin for the first time. During the process, some netizens noticed a detail: the names of Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu were written on Liu Yang's space suit. It turned out that the three astronauts wore the same suit one after another! Seeing this scene, netizens said: The names on the space suits record the inheritance, which is really warm and exciting! In addition to inheritance, of course, there are also these hard-core knowledge points when wearing the same space suit...

⬆️The names of Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu are on the space suit worn by Liu Yang

How long is the service life of an extravehicular space suit?

How long is the service life of the new generation of extravehicular space suits? This is a question that many netizens are concerned about. Speaking of service life, the service life of the new generation of extravehicular space suits is 3 years and 15 times, and the single time can support working time is 8 hours.

⬆️Shenzhou 14 astronaut Chen Dong exits the cabin

How to meet the needs of different astronauts

Due to the limited space in the space station, the development and transportation costs are extremely expensive, so there is no need to tailor extravehicular space suits to each person. At the same time, during the space station phase, there will be multiple astronauts performing extravehicular missions, including female astronauts, and their body shapes are different. So, how can three sets of extravehicular suits meet the needs of all astronauts?

According to the configuration of the space suit outside the spacecraft, the "one-to-many" fitness principle is adopted, that is, one set of clothing is worn by multiple people, and passive fitness is combined with active fitness, taking into account both individual and common requirements. The upper torso is a hard structure, with a fixed structure of a single parameter, and the maximum range is enveloping according to the body parameters of the target wearer; the lower torso and upper limbs are designed with active fitness, and the parameter range is determined according to the body parameters of the astronaut population, and local size adjustment is achieved by adjusting the structure; the gloves also adopt a passive and active fitness coupling design, and according to the hand parameter classification of the astronaut population, the astronaut wearing the suit can choose according to their own hand parameters, and the palm circumference can be adjusted to obtain better operability.

Will it balance the number of times used?

At present, there are three sets of extravehicular space suits in the Chinese space station, with red (A), blue (B), and yellow (C) stripes. In line with the principle of extending the service life in orbit, the frequency of use of the three sets of extravehicular space suits is balanced as much as possible during each extravehicular mission.

Before the Shenzhou 14 astronaut crew's first extravehicular activity, the red extravehicular spacesuit had been used 4 times, the blue 2 times, and the yellow 2 times, so the Shenzhou 14 astronaut crew will use the blue and yellow extravehicular spacesuits to complete the extravehicular activity mission, so that the number of extravehicular missions can basically be consistent.

Future development direction of extravehicular space suits

my country's design concept for future extravehicular space suits is modular, lightweight, and multi-purpose integrated design. For example, on the basis of achieving integrated protection in complex environments, interchangeability of functional modularization, and compatibility of external interfaces, the weight of the extravehicular space suit itself is minimized to the greatest extent, and its flexibility and maneuverability are improved to fully adapt to the applicable needs of various human-machine matching modes under different exploration missions.

Is the liquid cooling suit shared?

Liquid cooling suits are also part of extravehicular space suits. Astronauts will generate heat during extravehicular activities, and the extravehicular suits must be isolated from the external vacuum environment. It is an enclosed space. In order to dissipate heat for astronauts, they need to wear liquid cooling suits. The liquid cooling suit has fine holes all over the body, and more than 40 liquid cooling pipelines pass through these holes evenly, and then the liquid flows in the pipelines of the suit to achieve the effect of circulating cooling. A set of liquid cooling suits can lay a total of about 100 meters of pipelines all over the body. So, are liquid cooling suits also shared by astronauts? It is reported that liquid cooling suits are also shared by astronauts, with an overall type design. Astronauts choose the ones that suit their own size and wear them outside the underwear when they go out of the cabin.

How to arrange on-orbit replacement

When the storage period or number of uses of extravehicular space suits reaches the design value, performance evaluation must be carried out first to see if the life can be extended and whether they can be discarded after in-orbit maintenance. The current plan is to replace them in two batches.