Launch Entry Suit
Encyclopedia
The Launch Entry Suit or "pumpkin suit", was a partial pressure suit
Pressure suit
A pressure suit is a protective suit worn by high-altitude pilots who may fly at altitudes where the air pressure is too low for an unprotected person to survive, even breathing pure oxygen at positive pressure. Such suits may be either full-pressure or partial-pressure...

 worn by all Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...

 crews for the ascent and entry portions of flight from STS-26
STS-26
STS-26 was the 26th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the Discovery orbiter. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 29 September 1988, and landed four days later on 3 October. STS-26 was declared the "Return to Flight" mission, being the first mission after...

 (1988) to STS-65
STS-65
STS-65 is a Space Shuttle program mission of Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 8 July 1994. The flight was commanded by Robert D...

 (1994). It was completely phased out by STS-88
STS-88
-Mission parameters:*Weight*Liftoff: *Landing: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Orbital Period: 92.4min-Launch attempts:-Mission highlights:Node 1, named Unity, was the first space station hardware delivered by the space shuttle. It has two Pressurized Mating Adapters , one attached to either end...

 (Late 1998) and replaced by the ACES suit
Advanced Crew Escape Suit
The Advanced Crew Escape Suit or "pumpkin suit", was a full pressure suit that began to be worn by Space Shuttle crews after STS-65, for the ascent and entry portions of flight. The suit is a direct descendant of the U.S...

. The suit was manufactured by the David Clark Company
David Clark Company
David Clark Company, Inc. is an American manufacturer, best known for noise attenuating headsets with boom microphones for use in military aviation, commercial aviation, industry and professional communication in high-noise environments...

 of Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

.

History

The ACES was first worn by U.S. Air Force pilots in the mid-1970s, replacing a similar suit worn by SR-71 and U-2 pilots, and was identical to the suits worn by X-15 pilots and Gemini
Project Gemini
Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966....

 astronauts. Unlike the ACES suit, which is a full-pressure suit, the high-altitude suits were partial pressure suits, thus requiring a rubber diaphragm around the wearer's face. With the development of the Space Shuttle, and the inclusion of ejection seats on the Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia was the first spaceworthy Space Shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. First launched on the STS-1 mission, the first of the Space Shuttle program, it completed 27 missions before being destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 near the end of its 28th, STS-107. All seven crew...

 on the first four flights (STS-1
STS-1
STS-1 was the first orbital flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. Space Shuttle Columbia launched on 12 April 1981, and returned to Earth on 14 April, having orbited the Earth 37 times during the 54.5-hour mission. It was the first American manned space flight since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project...

 to STS-4
STS-4
STS-4 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission, using the Space Shuttle Columbia. The mission launched on 27 June 1982 and landed a week later on 4 July. STS-4 was the fourth shuttle mission overall, and was also the fourth mission for the Columbia.-Crew:...

), NASA decided to adopt modified versions of the suit; the modifications being the attachments to the parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...

 harness, and the adoption of inflatable bladders in the legs to prevent the crew from passing out during reentry. One other modification, a mount for prescription glasses, was incorporated for astronaut John W. Young, who wore modified bifocal reading glasses (resembling aviator sunglasses, but with the top portion, usually for distance seeing, being of regular glass, and the bottom, for reading, of the wearer's prescription) during the flight.

The four test flights, between April 1981 and July 1982, went without incident, and the pressure suits performed without any problems. With the termination of the test flight program, all flights from STS-5
STS-5
STS-5 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission, the fifth shuttle mission overall and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia. It was the first shuttle mission to deploy communications satellites into orbit...

 to STS-51-L
STS-51-L
STS-51-L was the twenty-fifth flight of the American Space Shuttle program, which marked the first time an ordinary civilian, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, had flown aboard the Space Shuttle. The mission used Space Shuttle Challenger, which lifted off from the Launch Complex 39-B on 28 January...

 (the Challenger disaster) saw the crew wearing one-piece light blue flight suits, escape harnesses, and helmets similar to the pressure suit helmets, but fitted around the head with a clamshell-like closure. After Challenger, NASA, in need of an escape system, also required the reintroduction of the wearing of pressure suits during the launch and landing portions of the flight.

The initial eight suits were navy blue, similar in color to the previous flight suits, the rest of the suits were bright orange to contrast against the dark blue ocean water they'd most likely be used in. The blue suits were never used on an actual mission.

For the first "Return to Flight" STS-26
STS-26
STS-26 was the 26th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the Discovery orbiter. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 29 September 1988, and landed four days later on 3 October. STS-26 was declared the "Return to Flight" mission, being the first mission after...

, the five-man astronaut crew wore, for the first time, new Launch & Entry Pressure Suits (LES). Resembling the Gemini spacesuit in appearance, but identical in function to the SR-71 partial-pressure suits, the new LES suits featured a one-piece torso-limb suit with a Nomex
Nomex
Nomex is a registered trademark for flame resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967.- Properties:...

 outer layer (which NASA was able to use on the Shuttle due to the mixed nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...

/oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

 sea-level atmosphere), closed with a rear-entry zipper, and featuring a full-pressure helmet with a polycarbonate
Polycarbonate
PolycarbonatePhysical PropertiesDensity 1.20–1.22 g/cm3Abbe number 34.0Refractive index 1.584–1.586FlammabilityV0-V2Limiting oxygen index25–27%Water absorption – Equilibrium0.16–0.35%Water absorption – over 24 hours0.1%...

 clear faceplate, mechanical seal, and black sunshade, zippered-on gloves (resembling the gloves used by astronaut Alan Shepard
Alan Shepard
Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, in space. This Mercury flight was designed to enter space, but not to achieve orbit...

 on his Mercury 3 suit
Navy Mark V
The Navy Mark IV high-altitude pressure suit was a full-body pressure suit originally developed by the B.F. Goodrich Company and the U.S. Navy for wear in high-altitude fighter aircraft operations...

), heavy black "paratrooper" style safety boots, and a survival backpack, which is donned prior to entering the Orbiter and contains a parachute, life raft, survival gear, and a 30-minute supply of breathing oxygen.

Because of the helmet design, which rested on the astronaut's shoulders and allowed them to move their head around freely, astronauts were now required to wear a communications cap similar to those worn by Apollo
Project Apollo
The Apollo program was the spaceflight effort carried out by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration , that landed the first humans on Earth's Moon. Conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Apollo began in earnest after President John F...

 astronauts, and because they were white (later changed to brown), the suit resembled the Vostok
Vostok programme
The Vostok programme was a Soviet human spaceflight project that succeeded in putting a person into Earth's orbit for the first time. The programme developed the Vostok spacecraft from the Zenit spy satellite project and adapted the Vostok rocket from an existing ICBM design...

 pressure suit
SK-1 spacesuit
SK-1 is an initialism of "Skafandr Kosmicheskiy" # 1 is a spacesuit that was developed specially for Yuri Gagarin. As such, it is the first spacesuit ever used...

 worn by Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961....

. The suits were designed to withstand pressures up to 40,000 feet (12 kilometers), and submersion in the ocean for up to 24 hours at 5 °Celsius (40 °Fahrenheit).

Because of the limitations of protection the LES could offer, NASA and the David Clark Company introduced the current ACES design in 1995, which is currently the only suit used for Shuttle missions. Based on the LES, but being a full-pressure suit, the ACES suit now incorporates gloves on disconnecting lock rings on the wrists, liquid cooling and improved ventilation, and an extra layer of insulation.

The ACES suit is analogous to the Sokol
Sokol space suit
The Sokol space suit is a type of Russian space suit, worn by all who fly on the Soyuz spacecraft. It was introduced in 1973 and is still used . The Sokol is described by its makers as a rescue suit, and it is not capable of being used outside the spacecraft in a spacewalk or extra-vehicular...

 suits used for Soyuz missions and its functions are virtually the same — the only differences being the ACES suit having a detachable helmet and survival backpack, while the Russian suit has an integrated helmet and no backpack (due to the limitations in space aboard the Soyuz, and that the spacecraft is an entry capsule, not a winged spacecraft or lifting body).

Specifications

Each suit was sized individually, although most suits could be worn by astronauts of different heights. It included a parachute and flotation device.
Name: Launch Entry Suit (S1032)

Derived from: USAF Model S1031

Manufacturer: David Clark Company

Missions: STS-26
STS-26
STS-26 was the 26th NASA Space Shuttle mission and the seventh flight of the Discovery orbiter. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 29 September 1988, and landed four days later on 3 October. STS-26 was declared the "Return to Flight" mission, being the first mission after...

 to STS-79
STS-79
STS-79 was a Space Shuttle Atlantis mission to the Mir space station. It was the first shuttle mission to dock with Mir once it was fully assembled.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Spacehab-Double Module **Orbiter Docking System...

, STS-81
STS-81
STS-81 was a January 1997 Space Shuttle Atlantis mission to the Mir space station.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 92.2 min-Fifth Mir docking mission:...

 to STS-83
STS-83
STS-83 was a mission of the United States Space Shuttle Columbia.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Landing with payload: **MSL-1 Spacelab Module: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 28.5°...

, STS-94
STS-94
STS-94 was a mission of the United States Space Shuttle Columbia, launched on 1 July 1997.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Landing with payload: **MSL-1 Spacelab Module: *Perigee: *Apogee:...

 to STS-85
STS-85
STS-85 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission to perform multiple space science packages. It was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 7 August 1997.-Crew:-Crew notes:...

, STS-87
STS-87
STS-87 was a Space Shuttle mission launched from KSC pad 39-B on 19 November 1997. It was the 88th flight of the Space Shuttle, and the 24th flight of Columbia...

 to STS-90
STS-90
-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter landing with payload: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 89.7 min-Mission highlights:...

, STS-88
STS-88
-Mission parameters:*Weight*Liftoff: *Landing: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Orbital Period: 92.4min-Launch attempts:-Mission highlights:Node 1, named Unity, was the first space station hardware delivered by the space shuttle. It has two Pressurized Mating Adapters , one attached to either end...



Function: Intra-vehicular activity (IVA)

Pressure Type: Partial

Operating Pressure: 2.7 psi (18.6 kPa)

Suit Weight: 30 lb (13.6 kg)

Parachute and Survival Systems Weight: 64 lb (29 kg)

Total Weight: 94 lb (42.6 kg)

Primary Life Support: Vehicle Provided

Backup Life Support: 10 minutes

External links

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