I-Suit

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

I-Suit

The I-Suit is a spacesuit model constructed by ILC Dover

ILC Dover

File:ILCShuttleSpacesuit.jpgILC Dover is a Dover, Delaware-based corporation located in nearby Frederica, Delaware. Approximately ten percent of the workforce is stationed at the Lyndon B....
. The suit began as an EVA mobility demonstrator, developed to meet a contract awarded by NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
to ILC in 1997 for an all-soft suit.

The I-Suit is designed for multiple roles, including planetary excursion and microgravity EVA. The first generation I-Suit is configured to work with the existing Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle

NASA's Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System , is the spacecraft currently used by the United States government for its human spaceflight missions....
EMU

Extravehicular Mobility Unit

The Space Shuttle/International Space Station Extravehicular Mobility Unit is an independent anthropomorphic system that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for a Shuttle or ISS crew member to perform extra-vehicular activity in earth orbit....
helmet assembly and wrist bearing/disconnect, and incorporates a 2-bearing hip, hard waist entry, and walking boots.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'I-Suit'

Start a new discussion about 'I-Suit'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The I-Suit is a spacesuit model constructed by ILC Dover

ILC Dover

NASA

Space Shuttle

NASA's Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System , is the spacecraft currently used by the United States government for its human spaceflight missions....
EMU

Extravehicular Mobility Unit

Torque

Torque is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis . Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....
and range of motion

Range of motion

Range of motion or , as used in the biomedical and weightlifting communities, is the measurement of the achievable distance between the flexed position and the extended position of a particular joint or muscle group....
), and resizing capability.

Improvements over EMU

The I-Suit incorporates improvements in materials and manufacturing techniques which make it both lighter and more mobile than the EMU.

While the EMU is solely intended for the microgravity environment, where weight is not an issue, the I-Suit's planetary role makes weight a critical factor. By replacing the EMU's fiberglass Hard Upper Torso

Hard Upper Torso

A Hard Upper Torso Assembly, or HUT, is a central component of many space suits, notably NASA's Extravehicular Mobility Unit . The fiberglass HUT forms a rigid enclosure about the upper body of the occupant, providing pressure containment for this part of the body....
(HUT) section with a soft upper torso, or SUT, and by using lightweight titanium

Titanium

Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Sometimes called the ?space age metal?, it has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver colour....
in place of stainless steel

Stainless steel

In metallurgy, stainless steel is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10% chromium content by mass. Stainless steel does not stain, corrode, or rust as easily as ordinary steel , but it is not stain-proof....
for load-bearing metal components, the I-suit weighs only 65 pounds (29 kg) without its life support backpack

Primary Life Support System

A Primary Life Support System/Subsystem, or PLSS, is the "backpack" of a spacesuit. It provides most of the functions of a spacecraft life support system, in a smaller package....
or thermal/micrometeoroid

Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment

An Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment is the outer layer of a space suit. The TMG has three functions: to insulate the suit occupant and prevent heat loss, to shield the occupant from harmful solar radiation, and to protect the astronaut from micrometeoroids and other orbital debris, which could puncture the suit and depressurize it....
layer, compared to 107 lbs (49 kg) for the EMU. The suit also features a graphite-epoxy

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer or carbon fiber reinforced plastic , is a very strong, light, and expensive composite material or fiber-reinforced polymer....
shoulder bearing

Bearing (mechanical)

A bearing is a device to allow constrained relative motion between two parts, typically rotation or linear movement. Bearings may be classified broadly according to the motions they allow and according to their principle of operation as well as by the directions of applied loads they can handle....
housing, demonstrating the use of this material in place of aluminum

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
. Replacing all the suit's bearing housings with graphite-epoxy would save a further ten pounds (5 kg).

Joint torque in fabric spacesuits is minimized by the careful placement of gores, convolutes, and pleats into the fabric structure. Improvements in joint torque in the I-Suit are primarily the result of refinement of these techniques, rather than the result of new technologies, though the suit does incorporate Vectran

Vectran

Vectran is a manufactured fibre, spun from a liquid crystal polymer created by Celanese Acetate LLC and now manufactured by Kuraray Chemically it is an aromatic polyester....
in its restraint cords, which has somewhat improved thermal properties over the Spectra used in shuttle suits.

Generation II suit

After the original I-Suit was delivered to NASA, improvements to the design were incorporated into a second generation suit, including a new helmet with improved visibility range, a redesigned hip/thigh joint, and improved boots and waist hardware. The second generation I-suit incorporates a rear-entry hatch.

Technologies evaluated with the second generation suit include electronic textiles for use as buttons incorporated into the suit, a heads-up

Head-Up Display

A head-up display, or HUD, is any transparent display that presents data without requiring the user to look away from his or her usual viewpoint....
display, GPS

Global Positioning System

The Global Positioning System is a global navigation satellite system developed by the United States Department of Defense and managed by the United States Air Force 50th Space Wing....
capability, and speech recognition

Speech recognition

Speech recognition converts spoken words to machine-readable input . The term "voice recognition" is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to speech recognition, when actually referring to speaker recognition, which attempts to identify the person speaking, as opposed to what is being said....
software to allow the suit occupant to receive information from the suit and external hardware.

The I-Suit, as well as ILC's Mark III

Mark III (space suit)

The Mark III or MK III is a NASA space suit technology demonstrator built by ILC Dover. While heavier than other suits , the Mark III is more mobile, and is designed for a relatively high operating pressure....
suit, has been involved in field testing during NASA's annual Desert Research and Technology Studies

Desert Research and Technology Studies

NASA's Desert Research and Technology Studies is a group of teams which perform an annual series of field trials seeking to demonstrate and test candidate technologies and systems for extravehicular activity of the surface of the Moon, Mars, or other rocky bodies....
(D-RATS) field trials, during which suit occupants interact with one another, and with rovers and other equipment.