Space Race

Some old Chinese guys told me it was when one of their cousins invented that rocket fuel made of charcoal, sodium nitrate and sulphur

Then some other dude comes along and has a story about some old dude named Goddard that came up with some rockets.

US and Soviet intelligence had eyes on Von Braun way before the closing days of WWII.

Then we got that Key dude who penned the "Rockets red glare" ditty that went viral.

 

As a kid I was fascinated by the Gemini missions. During mission 4 on June 3, 1965, Ed, White became the first man to walk in space. What they never told you was that it was almost a disaster. James McDivitt, sat helpless in the command seat as White tried repeatedly to get back inside the capsule. Between the lack of hand holds, the awkwardness of zero gravity and the suit having inflated it was touch and go getting back in his seat. He was sweating profusely and near exhaustion when he finally did make it. Their guys were true heroes and real pioneers.

 

The pressure suit would have had to be inflated in an extravehicular ingress or egress. The internal suit pressure would be +/- 5.2 psia of 100% O2. The delta P being in the range of 5.2 psia and 1X10-3 Torr. Without the counter pressure and the 100% O2 requirement allowing the gas to pass through the alveoli. Plus the heating a dude in "outer space" would last seconds.

 

I think the biggest issue was with a lack of purchase for hands and feet, a problem that was rectified in subsequent missions.

 

As was overall mobility in pressure garments. The two are interrelated. Tethering in those early days was command module to suit. Now the suits are dependent on a physical tether. The physiological aspects are provided by the "backpacks", aka PLSS (portable life support systems). These were in development and thermo-vacuum testing in NASA's Space Environment Simulation Laboratory Chamber B in 1965-66.

The physiological aspects are fairly cut and dried. One of the major contributions to this level of flying was developed by the Luftwaffe prior to the invasion of Poland. The suits and the mobility factors are different animals since the early suits were designed for pilots operating aircraft in a fixed position.
Mobility tests for ingress/egress are done again at NASA MSC using suits that are inflated to +/- 5.2 PSIA with breathing air counterweighted to simulate gravitational forces ( 1/6 G) and done in a freshwater tank with certified divers monitoring the practice and recording the results.

The suits resist movement by the very nature of the physics of the opposing pressure or lack therof.

Bottom line they ain't much good for ones's golf swing, playing tennis or doing the funky chicken.

This link will indicate the level of testing just "on the ground " protocols in manned spaceflight. Still shit goes haywire and lives are lost and it ain't always in some book that was writ by some dude who was never there.

https://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/crgis/im...Chambers_at_NASA_Manned_Spacecraft_Center.pdf

 

Did you see where NASA is offering $30,000 for suit design concepts that would allow for the collection and isolation of pee, poop and menstrual blood for up to three days. This would be a travel suit. Personally I thought $30,000 for a workable idea was pretty meager.

 

Gus Grissom gets my vote after his live interview from the launch pad on Mercury 2 when asked how it felt waiting to blast off he replied" how would you feel knowing you were sitting of the efforts of a thousand low bidders ?" That went down well with NASA

Phil Nuytten of Newt Suit fame has developed a great suit for space, based on his armoured underwater suit ideas. Not heard about it for a while. What works well in water should work well in space, with light weight composites replacing heavy crush resistant armour !

 

Currently the tech is absorption. The FCD ( fecal control device) is a sort of diaper. The UCD (urine control device) starts with a condom (NASA grade) and ends with a bag attached to the suit. Those samples of Astronaut poop are analyzed. When the Apollo Moon Flight came home, they went into the Lunar Lab where all the rocks and other samples were taken.

I saw the blurb but not the fine print. NASA could possibly only want a concept design or a "working idea". The fine points would be a cumulative effort by NASA and aerospace contract firms.

Lots of spinoffs from just the material in the FCD. Diapers for infants and folks that are incontinent. Smaller profile and more absorbent sanitary napkins as well as the insertable types. Enviromentally, oil spill containment and absorption mats.


Maybe if this new system comes to pass. (yes, I did that on purpose) there will be a surplus sale. I would buy some to use on harleydoods who make up stories and lay them on ya when you know they are full of shit.

 

It means that you could travel further, across country, to kill your romantic rival!

 

I like what you did there.....

 

Saw the last flight of the Atlantis. Well it was supposed to be- they flew it one more time.

You see the ignition and the shuttle slowly start to move. About 10 seconds later you hear and "feel" it. Something I'll never forget. Went with my bro.

 

I took GG Jr. to that same exact Atlantis launch! We saw it from the AHOF - what an awesome sound and light show! I miss the shuttle - I could see the launches all the way from my backyard in Orlando when the skies were clear and the landing path was such that we would get loud as fuck sonic booms that would rattle every window in the house - LOL.

 

Very cool GG. We watched from the causeway.

 

I was thinking more in terms of the sanctioned and unsanctioned "Iron Butt" type rides. I suppose in some quarters that would be romantically appealing to some.

 

One can always be a substitute astronaut and make a few pesos on the side testing all these outer space farkles..

I was good on that fart thing until I scrolled down some.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubTlTKLas_o

 

Please don't give up on your dream yet Tinker! NASA is hard at work developing an automated butt wiper as we speak - coincidentally GG Jr. showed me this vid of a prototype just yesterday - the technology looks promising :tongue-new:
[video=youtube;NmemOdsMtcg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmemOdsMtcg[/video]

 

She has upgraded the device for harleydoods by substituting a rotary file for the TP.

 

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