NASA astronaut spacesuits are essentially miniature spaceships.

When Neil Armstrong first set foot on the cratered and dusty lunar surface, the only thing protecting him from the blistering sunlight, cosmic radiation, and flying lunar particles was his elaborately designed spacesuit.

But before Armstrong set foot on the moon, the spacesuit was constantly being shuttled back and forth between Delaware and Houston. The specialists packed the suit in a bag and took it to Texas for testing, then sent it back north for repairs, including a zipper replacement, two weeks before launch.

Ultimately, designing a spacesuit that would take humans to a hostile world beyond Earth’s atmosphere was no easy task. The famous spacesuits worn by Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon were transferred to contractors multiple times and failed tests before they were finally approved for use.

“It’s exciting to be incorporating new ideas, but designing a spacesuit is a very iterative process. You don’t want to take a big, bold, new risk at the expense of human life,” he says. Kathleen LewisI am the Curator of International Space Programs and Spacesuits at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.

spacesuit design

A spacesuit is essentially a miniature spacecraft, designed to provide the wearer with communication, life support, and physical protection, among other things.

The lunar spacesuit It’s definitely unique The same goes for EVA (extraveler activity) suits. Of course, they had to protect the astronauts from extremely extreme temperatures. But they also needed sturdy boots that wouldn’t crumble on the sharp lunar surface. They needed flexible joints so the astronauts could walk around and collect scientific samples of this new world. They needed portable life support backpacks. They even had to protect the astronauts from tiny meteorite particles traveling 10 times faster than a bullet.

The first spacesuit

Among the first people to go into space in the early 1960s were Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and American astronaut Alan ShepardIn fact, they weren’t wearing the bulky suits of Apollo 11. Rather, according to Lewis, their suits were more like pressure suits designed only for emergencies.

The first true spacesuits appeared a few years later, as ambitions grew not just to launch into space but to walk in space. These were the spacesuits of cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Edward White, painted a brilliant white to reflect incoming solar radiation and sunlight.

“Both sides tested the suit under the best possible simulation conditions on Earth,” says Lewis. “But in space, things are different.”

Building an Apollo Spacesuit

NASA then moved on to a water-based system, essentially filling long underwear with drinking tubes to form a spaghetti-like system that provides a constant temperature and flow of water.

The Apollo spacesuit consisted of: 20 different layers and 12 materials – Includes joints made from the same rubber material used in women’s underwear.

Most of the materials that went into the Apollo 11 spacesuit were already invented and used long before space exploration began. These included: Teflon (commonly used in household products such as nonstick pans) Invented in 1938.

“Spacesuit engineers tend to be very conservative,” says Lewis. “This is a life-preserving issue, and they systematically test materials.”

Read more: How Astronauts Sleep in Space

Fabrics and materials for spacesuits

Engineers also had to be sure that the materials they used would work well together. For example, previous spacesuits that combined brass zippers with rubber gaskets inadvertently accelerated their own degradation.

And while bulletproof Kevlar is effective at protecting astronauts from cosmic particles, it’s not enough to prevent astronauts’ gloves from getting cut by the sharp handles on the International Space Station (ISS), according to Lewis.

that much The tragic test mission of Apollo 1 NASA was informed that the melting point of the spacesuit fabric they were using at the time was too low.

“They stick to what they know, and they stick to what works,” says Lewis. “They use new combinations of ingredients to create iterative variations.”

Read more: New technology could replace astronaut spacesuit diapers

NASA spacesuit test

Whenever a new material comes in for manufacturing, engineers test it in a variety of ways, from microscopic inspection and X-rays to firing pellets into the fabric. After the actual spacesuit is built, manufacturers like ILC also hire human testers, whose job is to “basically put them through the motions of a lifetime,” says Lewis. That includes everything from bending, lunges, and squats.

“It’s about consistency and constant vigilance,” says Lewis. “It’s not as dramatic as someone putting on a spacesuit and jumping into space.”

Read more: How NASA and SpaceX are Returning Spacecraft Safely to Earth

Building NASA Spacesuits Today

Now, as NASA prepares to send astronauts to the moon for the first time in 50 years, it is continuing to refine spacesuits using lessons learned from the space age. It is focused on creating spacesuits that fit and function for everyone, regardless of size.

“They’re not all the same, but the essential operation of the suit is the same across the board,” Lewis explains.

Another major challenge NASA faces is rising costs, which will continue to be a challenge as it navigates the market with new contractors. axiom and spacex.

But even the simplest task for astronauts is still ahead of Lewis. NASA has solved the stabbing problem, but it has yet to create a glove that fully protects and insulates an astronaut’s hand while still allowing free movement. It’s a problem that engineers have been trying to solve for generations.

“We haven’t figured out how to replicate it. [into a spacesuit glove] “The most important thing about being human is the ability to use our hands,” says Lewis. “I don’t know if we can do it. There may still be some magic in getting the materials.”

Read more: How NASA is preparing Martian astronauts to cope with isolation and other extreme situations

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