Apollo spacesuit

(I'm not sure where this belongs - if anywhere - so I've put it here) :huh:

I'm a bit of a fan of all things NASA, space exploration and all the rest. I was wondering about the suits that the moonwalkers wore - presumably they're rebreathers?

How would they stand up, in duration/performance terms next to a modern-day Inspiration/Evolution? Would they work off-the-shelf underwater?



ps I know Buzz Aldrin is a scuba diver - Buzz, if you're reading this, I'd LOVE to dive with you, I'll even bring the air for a subaqua EVA of our own. You can be Neil and I'll be Buzz.

Real spacesuits are rebreathers yes.

The suits used in the practice tanks are similar but different. For instance the suits used in space are pressurised to less than 1 atmosphere and designed mostly to resist exploding.

The suits used in the water tanks obviously need to be pressurised to compensate for depth and are designed not to implode on the diver. They are simulators only. A lot of work goes into simulating the effect of a spacesuit but hiding insofar as possible from the user of the suit, the fact that it's not the same suit.

They're called PLSS backpacks (Pronounced pliss) which stands for portable life support systems. They are 100% O2 rebreathers with a 41 hr scrubber, and a 14 hr backup scrubber.

I doubt you could use them underwater, since they were designed to be used in a vacum enviornment, instead of a pressure enviornment. The breathing loop is pressurized to 3.8 PSI, and was not based on the breathing cycle, like most underwate rebreathers, but a small series of fans and flapper valves.

There is also alot more electronics in the PLSS units, including elemts which measure the temp and heated the air in the breathing loop. All of this was designed, again to work in a vacum, and even though they are airtight, and designed to keep out dust, I bet it would probably not handle the water pressure too well.

Not only that, but due to the fact it's a pure O2 rebreather, even if you could use it underwater, it would be limited to 20 FSW.

audission:

[snip] suits that the moonwalkers wore - presumably they're rebreathers?

How would they stand up, in duration/performance terms next to a modern-day Inspiration/Evolution? Would they work off-the-shelf underwater?



ps I know Buzz Aldrin is a scuba diver - Buzz, if you're reading this, I'd LOVE to dive with you, I'll even bring the air for a subaqua EVA of our own. You can be Neil and I'll be Buzz.

Click to expand...

Aldrin is an Inspiration diver.