Nasa astronauts get tailor made spacesuits by Boeing for Starliner flights

Boeing has made new spacesuits for Nasa Astronauts who will be going to the International Space Station on commercial Starliner flights. The suits are customised for every astronaut, use cutting edge materials to make them as light as possible, and have gloves that can be used with modern touchscreen devices. The new spacesuits have convenient zippers to change the configuration, and can be pressurised in an emergency.

The suits are improvements on the launch and entry suits worn by Space Shuttle astronauts. The suits designed by Boeing are 4.5 kg lighter than the suits used by Nasa so far, and weigh only 9 kg. The suits are lighter and more flexible because of the use of newer materials and different joint patterns. The materials used in the elbow and knee pads allow for more flexibility. The helmet, visor and boots are integrated into the suit itself, and are not detachable.

There are vents to cool the astronaut, and the water vapour build up within the suit is removed without removing the air. The cooling mechanism keeps the astronauts from overheating, without compromising on their safety. The astronauts have been training in mockups of the Starliner, to ensure that they can perform all the required operations while wearing the suits. As part of the preparations, the astronauts climb in and out of the suit repeatedly and try out different positions.

Astronaut Eric Boe said, “The most important part is that the suit will keep you alive. It is a lot lighter, more form-fitting and it’s simpler, which is always a good thing. Complicated systems have more ways they can break, so simple is better on something like this.” Eric Boe, Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley and Sunita Williams are the astronauts preparing for commercial missions to man the International Space Station.

The Commercial Crew Program by Nasa will use spacecraft from private companies to man the space station. The Dragon spacecraft from SpaceX and the Starliner from Boeing are currently part of the Commercial Crew Program. The spacecraft can take up four astronauts at a time to the space station, allowing for a total crew of seven at any single point of time. This will allow more scientific experiments to be conducted. Flight tests for the Starliner with astronauts on board are expected to be begin in 2018.