The Evolution of Spacesuits
05 April 2011
Astronaut Jeffrey Williams during a six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station
STEVE EMBER: I’m Steve Ember.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I’m Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about the special clothes astronauts wear that protect them while they work in space.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: Many questions had to be answered over sixty years ago when officials first began to think about placing a human being in space. One of the most important was how to design the special clothing needed to protect a person from the dangers of the space environment.
A person cannot work in the extremes of space without many different kinds of protection. The cold of space will freeze skin in a short time. The fierce heat of the sun can cause severe burns. The lack of atmosphere can cause gases and fluids in the body to expand and even burst.
And, with no oxygen to breathe, a human being will die in only a few moments. Any of these extreme conditions would mean a quick death for someone who did not wear special protective clothing. Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is another environmental risk in space. So is damage from small pieces of rock and objects like meteoroids.
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: When humans explore and do useful work in space, they must take their natural environment with them. The American space agency, NASA, provides astronauts with a number of things that work together to create a protective environment. An astronaut who does work outside the space shuttle usually is wearing more than seventeen pieces of protective equipment.
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2013-11-25
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