1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,040 How does a human survive in outer space? Outside the protective shell of Earth's 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:11,000 atmosphere lies an endless void of cold, black emptiness, an environment where no 3 00:00:11,279 --> 00:00:15,039 life, none as we know it at least, can be sustained. And 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:20,280 yet human beings have stepped into that void with all of our infinite fragilities, 5 00:00:20,519 --> 00:00:24,480 and we have lived to tell the tale. In fact, over hundreds of 6 00:00:24,559 --> 00:00:30,280 excursions into the cosmic vacuum across six decades of human spaceflight, and no person 7 00:00:30,679 --> 00:00:35,719 has ever died in space. So let's talk about the evolution of the space 8 00:00:35,759 --> 00:00:41,479 suit. This is the space race. So the basic idea for surviving an 9 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,840 environment that is so far distant from the surface of the Earth is to bring 10 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:50,399 as much of the Earth's environment along with you as you can. That means 11 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:55,479 ambient pressure, air quality, and temperature all need to remain consistent throughout your 12 00:00:55,560 --> 00:01:00,560 journey. This is something that human beings began to discover long before spaceflight. 13 00:01:00,799 --> 00:01:06,040 In the year nineteen thirty two, a Swiss physicist named August Picard decided that 14 00:01:06,079 --> 00:01:10,400 he would push the boundaries of the human experience and fly to a height of 15 00:01:10,519 --> 00:01:15,400 sixteen thousand meters or fifty two thousand feet in a helium balloon. Picard was 16 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,359 smart enough to know that there was not enough atmosphere at that altitude for him 17 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:25,560 to survive, so he built an aluminum sphere and pressurized it with compressed air. 18 00:01:26,359 --> 00:01:29,840 Anyone who has climbed a mountain, or even just seeing other people climb 19 00:01:29,879 --> 00:01:33,120 mountains on TV, knows that as you get higher into the sky, the 20 00:01:33,239 --> 00:01:38,400 air becomes thin and it becomes much more difficult to breathe in enough oxygen. 21 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,640 But an even more dangerous side effect of high altitude is the decrease in ambient 22 00:01:42,719 --> 00:01:48,599 pressure that happens as a result of the lower density in the atmosphere. The 23 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:53,519 boiling point of a liquid is determined by two main factors, temperature and pressure. 24 00:01:53,879 --> 00:01:57,359 The lower the ambient pressure, the lower the temperature at which a liquid 25 00:01:57,359 --> 00:02:02,480 will convert to vapor. Human beings are made up mostly of liquids, and 26 00:02:02,799 --> 00:02:07,280 we like to keep it that way. At an altitude of sixty three thousand 27 00:02:07,319 --> 00:02:12,039 feet or nineteen thousand meters above sea level, the ambient pressure drops to a 28 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:16,159 point where water can boil at just thirty seven degrees celsius or ninety nine fahrenheit, 29 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:21,360 which is normal human body temperature. So at this point, it doesn't 30 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,879 matter how much oxygen you have to breathe without pressure, you're about to have 31 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:29,879 a very bad day. So floating under a balloon in a pressure vessel is 32 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:31,960 one way to do it. But what if you want to push the boundaries 33 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,599 in something with a little more control, like an airplane. Let's talk about 34 00:02:37,599 --> 00:02:42,159 Wily Post, an American pilot who was the first person to fly solo around 35 00:02:42,159 --> 00:02:45,159 the world. He was a bit of a rogue and a daredevil, you 36 00:02:45,159 --> 00:02:47,759 can tell by the eye patch and one eyed. Willie built his own custom 37 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:53,840 supercharged airplane named the Winnie May. This souped up machine had the power to 38 00:02:53,879 --> 00:02:57,800 reach fifteen thousand meters in altitude, where Willie knew that he could ride the 39 00:02:57,879 --> 00:03:01,960 jet stream to travel even further and faster than ever before. His plane may 40 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,680 have been up to the task, but he was smart enough to know that 41 00:03:05,759 --> 00:03:09,639 his body wasn't sturdy enough. So Willie Post teamed up with the automotive tire 42 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:15,960 makers BF Goodrich to craft the first ever pressure suit in nineteen thirty four. 43 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:20,280 The body of the suit had three layers, starting with long underwear on the 44 00:03:20,319 --> 00:03:23,759 inside, covered by a black rubber air pressure bladder and an outer layer made 45 00:03:23,759 --> 00:03:29,879 of rubberized parachute fabric. The outer layer was glued to a frame with arm 46 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,639 and leg joints that allowed him to operate the flight controls and to walk to 47 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:38,240 and from the aircraft. Attached to the framework pigskin gloves, rubber boots, 48 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:43,520 and a scuba diver's helmet made from aluminum and plastic. Now, the first 49 00:03:43,759 --> 00:03:46,960 real pressure suits that weren't homemade by a one eyed lunatic and a tire shop 50 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:52,520 were done by the US Air Force when the first high altitude bombers were developed 51 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,639 in the mid nineteen forties. Giant planes like the B thirty six Piecemaker were 52 00:03:55,719 --> 00:04:00,400 able to reach cruising heights over forty thousand feet at point. An oxygen mask 53 00:04:00,479 --> 00:04:05,240 alone is just not enough to keep the crew functioning, and while the interior 54 00:04:05,319 --> 00:04:11,120 cabin of these planes were pressurized just like a commercial airliner, this bomber was 55 00:04:11,199 --> 00:04:15,480 meant for active combat and any damage to the outer shell would cause a rapid 56 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:20,839 depressurization event, so the crew would need their own pressure suits with fully enclosed 57 00:04:20,879 --> 00:04:26,759 helmets. By the mid fifties, the US had developed their Utube spyplane, 58 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:31,120 an aircraft that could reach a staggering altitude of twenty one thousand meters or sixty 59 00:04:31,199 --> 00:04:36,319 nine thousand feet above sea level, high above Soviet radar and missile capability. 60 00:04:36,759 --> 00:04:42,279 A new flight suit was developed for YouTube pilots that would maintain their body pressure 61 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:46,360 throughout the mission and prevent their blood from boiling at the extreme altitude. By 62 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:50,839 the late nineteen fifties, the first ever space race had officially begun, with 63 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:57,040 the United States and Soviet Union both developing the technology that would not only put 64 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,000 a man into outer space but also get him back come alive. That was 65 00:05:01,079 --> 00:05:05,800 actually the tricky part. The US Air Force started experimenting with ultra high speed, 66 00:05:05,879 --> 00:05:11,279 high altitude flight in their X fifteen rocket plane. In order to survive 67 00:05:11,399 --> 00:05:15,480 these hypersonic missions to the edge of the atmosphere, an even more advanced full 68 00:05:15,519 --> 00:05:20,160 pressure flight suit was developed, the XMC two, and this is where the 69 00:05:20,199 --> 00:05:25,879 modern image of the space suit really begins to take shape. Of course, 70 00:05:25,959 --> 00:05:30,160 we have been talking a lot about American technology here, but the first real 71 00:05:30,199 --> 00:05:34,680 space suit was worn by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin aboard vostok Ie as the Soviets claimed 72 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:40,079 victory in the first leg of the space race, circling the Earth at a 73 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:44,600 speed of twenty seven thousand, four hundred kilometers per hour on a one hundred 74 00:05:44,639 --> 00:05:48,519 and eight minute flight. Uri suit was critical to his survival on that mission 75 00:05:48,759 --> 00:05:54,240 because even though the capsule maintained pressure throughout the flight, the Vostok capsule was 76 00:05:54,319 --> 00:05:58,319 not able to land safely on the Earth, so the pilot had to bail 77 00:05:58,399 --> 00:06:02,360 out at an altitude of twenty three thousand feet and parachute the rest of the 78 00:06:02,399 --> 00:06:06,959 way down. After being officially formed in nineteen fifty nine, NASA set to 79 00:06:06,959 --> 00:06:12,480 work on developing their own space suit, using the existing Air Force pressure suits 80 00:06:12,519 --> 00:06:16,480 as their template. The first innovation that NASA scientists brought to spacesuit design was 81 00:06:16,519 --> 00:06:21,480 to replace the outer covering of the Air Force suits with illuminized nylon for better 82 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:27,279 thermal insulation, and they removed the rubber seals that isolated the helmet from the 83 00:06:27,319 --> 00:06:30,120 rest of the suit, pumping air in from the waste to help cool the 84 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:35,639 suit through airflow. This was the suit used by the Project Mercury astronauts. 85 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:40,759 Their flight plans were relatively simple, reach orbit, and come back down again. 86 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:45,720 The spacesuit was only there as a protective measure if the capsule lost pressure, 87 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:50,040 but luckily that never happened. It's not until Project Gemini where things get 88 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:54,519 real. For NASA, it's time to leave the capsule, and now the 89 00:06:54,639 --> 00:07:00,519 astronauts require a spacesuit that will actively keep them alive in the vacuum of space. 90 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,279 Now again, it's probably important to note that the Soviet Union also achieved 91 00:07:04,319 --> 00:07:10,519 the first spacewalk before NASA. On March eighteenth, nineteen sixty five, Soviet 92 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:15,519 cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to leave a space capsule and float freely 93 00:07:15,839 --> 00:07:20,160 in orbit. This was a learning experience for the brand new field of human 94 00:07:20,199 --> 00:07:26,639 space exploration because no one had ever tried to use a pressurized suit in a 95 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,399 total vacuum before. So what happened to Alexei was that his suit puffed up 96 00:07:30,399 --> 00:07:33,759 like a balloon. He was barely able to move, he couldn't even reach 97 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:38,399 the shutter on his camera, and worst of all, the suit grew so 98 00:07:38,439 --> 00:07:43,600 big that he couldn't fit back inside the Vostok capsule. So Alexei had to 99 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,600 vent his own atmosphere out into space in order to shrink down enough to squeeze 100 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:53,120 through the airlock and back into the safety of his vehicle. Just two months 101 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,279 later, it was NASA's turn to enter the void. An astronaut Ed White, 102 00:07:57,319 --> 00:08:01,279 made the first American spacewalk d a much easier time on his execution. 103 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,800 Instead of a bulky life support backpack like the Soviets, White was tethered to 104 00:08:05,839 --> 00:08:11,079 the capsule for life support, and NASA's upgraded space suit design for Gemini incorporated 105 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:16,560 a mesh into the outer structure of the suit that prevented the ballooning issue. 106 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,839 White maneuvered easily through the vacuum using a handheld air pressure gun that functioned like 107 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:28,000 a control thruster. The mission was a resounding success. NASA would leverage the 108 00:08:28,079 --> 00:08:33,679 Gemini mission to learn as much as they possibly could about extra vehicular activity in 109 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:37,639 space as quickly as they could manage. President Kennedy had made the promise that 110 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,960 Americans would walk on the Moon before the end of the nineteen sixties, and 111 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,639 NASA wasn't about to let JFK's dream die alongside the man, so they pressed 112 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:52,679 on towards the first lunar space suit, their most demanding task yet. The 113 00:08:52,799 --> 00:08:56,039 first major change for the lunar suit would be the need for a self contained 114 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:01,600 life support system. The tethering cable from the Gemini emissions wouldn't cut it for 115 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,639 exploring the Moon, so the astronauts needed backpacks big ones. Yet they still 116 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:11,679 had to balance and move freely in a low gravity environment. But even if 117 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:15,799 they got the balance perfect, it was still likely that the astronauts were going 118 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,120 to fall down on the Moon, so the suit needed to be tough. 119 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:24,600 A new material of woven silica fibers coated with teflon was developed as an outer 120 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:28,200 shell for the new suit. On the inside of the lunar suit, there 121 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,840 was a tight fitting system of bellows and mechanical joints that would give the astronauts 122 00:09:31,879 --> 00:09:37,399 full mobility while under pressure. The inner layer of the suit was plumbed with 123 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,600 a network of cooling tubes that circulated water over the astronaut's body to remove heat 124 00:09:43,039 --> 00:09:48,039 at Earth gravity. The suit weighed thirty five kilograms, plus another sixty kilograms 125 00:09:48,039 --> 00:09:52,879 for the backpack, which is a total of two hundred and nine pounds. 126 00:09:52,879 --> 00:09:56,720 This suit brought Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldron to the surface of the Moon, 127 00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:01,000 NASA's first real wind in the space race, but it was as a definitive 128 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:05,960 victory. NASA used their experience with the Apollo mission to gradually improve on their 129 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:09,240 spacesuit design as they went, but out of the twelve individuals to set foot 130 00:10:09,279 --> 00:10:13,840 on the Moon, there was not one single issue related to their spacesuits. 131 00:10:15,399 --> 00:10:18,279 The promise of the Space Shuttle program was that human beings were now going to 132 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:24,600 live and work in outer space on a regular basis, a sustained presence in 133 00:10:24,639 --> 00:10:28,120 Low Earth orbit, and for that we would again need an improved spacesuit design 134 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:35,120 that could support long duration spacewalks while exposed to the vacuum and the raw intensity 135 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:39,200 of the Sun. The Apollo suit was again used as the basis for the 136 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:43,120 extra Vehicular Mobility Unit or EMU that would be paired with the Space Shuttle. 137 00:10:43,399 --> 00:10:48,080 Because these suits were made exclusively for use in zero G, they could be 138 00:10:48,159 --> 00:10:52,919 much heavier and more rigid than the Apollo designs. The EMU was created with 139 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,360 a modular design, with each component made in a variety of sizes, so 140 00:10:58,399 --> 00:11:03,360 that any astronaut would be to piece together a suit to fit their body shape. 141 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,120 The EMU also had the ability to equip a new jet pack design that 142 00:11:07,159 --> 00:11:13,679 allowed astronauts to float freely in outer space untethered to their vehicle, although this 143 00:11:13,799 --> 00:11:16,919 unit was eventually retired for just being a bit too dangerous to be worthwhile. 144 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:22,320 These EMU suits were put to their ultimate test when the Hubble space telescope was 145 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:28,240 deployed in nineteen ninety. The idea behind Hubble was that it could be served 146 00:11:28,399 --> 00:11:35,480 regularly by Space Shuttle astronauts to prolong the lifespan and functionality of the orbital platform. 147 00:11:35,519 --> 00:11:39,879 This would require long and complex spacewalks to be performed on Hubble, which 148 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,399 orbits at a high altitude of three hundred and forty miles above sea level, 149 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:48,879 about a hundred miles higher than the ISS. In order to train for these 150 00:11:48,919 --> 00:11:54,200 spacewalks, NASA developed their Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. This is the pool of water 151 00:11:54,279 --> 00:11:58,840 that you see astronauts practicing in. Over the decades that the Space Shuttle operated, 152 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:05,320 these EMU suits were steadily upgraded with enhanced safety features like a simple maneuvering 153 00:12:05,399 --> 00:12:11,200 thruster system, an upgraded battery, and improved heating in the glove section of 154 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:15,240 the suit. These are the same suits that are used to this day for 155 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:20,559 spacewalks on the ISS. There hasn't really been a significant redesign of the American 156 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:26,120 space suit until now. On March fifteen, twenty twenty three, Axiom Space 157 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,440 unveiled the long awaited redesign of NASA's extra vehicular mobility units, a new space 158 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:35,759 suit that would again take human beings to the surface of the Moon on the 159 00:12:35,879 --> 00:12:41,159 Artemis three mission. The Axiom design was contracted out by NASA, who simply 160 00:12:41,279 --> 00:12:46,200 lacked the sources and funding in the modern era to design their own lunar suit. 161 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:52,360 Axiom have essentially taken everything that was learned through the era of the EMU 162 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:56,519 and the spacewalks conducted on the Shuttle and ISS, then they packaged that technology 163 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:01,679 into a suit that would give astronauts the mobile they required to operate on long 164 00:13:01,759 --> 00:13:07,879 duration missions to the Moon. What sets Artemis apart from Apollo is the new 165 00:13:07,919 --> 00:13:11,759 directive to establish a permanent presence on the Moon. So instead of staying on 166 00:13:11,799 --> 00:13:16,000 the surface for a few hours and then coming home, Artemis crew members will 167 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,840 live and work on the Moon for weeks at a time. So this demands 168 00:13:20,879 --> 00:13:26,679 a spacesuit with a higher level of comfort and durability, combined with the mobility 169 00:13:26,759 --> 00:13:31,600 that is going to be required to literally build the first Moon base. All 170 00:13:31,639 --> 00:13:35,080 that's left now is to imagine the future and the first spacesuit that will allow 171 00:13:35,159 --> 00:13:39,399 human beings to walk on the surface of Mars.