Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 

SpaceX EVA Spacesuit Tested By Polaris Dawn Crew

The SpaceX EVA model spacesuit was tested at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas at the end of June (see my earlier article SpaceX Intros Extravehicular Activity Suit for more details).

Polaris Dawn’s spacewalk will mark both the first-ever commercial spacewalk and the first time that four astronauts will be concurrently exposed to the vacuum of space. During the approximately two-hour-long operation, Mission Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis will separately exit the Dragon spacecraft through its forward hatch. Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet and Mission Specialist & Medical Officer Anna Menon will remain seated, managing spacesuit umbilicals and monitoring telemetry on Dragon’s interior displays.

This final spacesuit testing milestone took place at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, June 24-28, utilizing a historic chamber facility previously used to support testing of America’s earliest spacesuits and spacecraft during the Gemini and Apollo programs. Built in the mid-1960s, the facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and remains in use today to support various space industry tests.

Science fiction authors have a long history of introducing readers to the idea of space suits, the phrase having first been used in The Emperor of the Stars, by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat), published by Wonder Stories in 1931.

The idea that spacesuits should be tested in vacuum has an even longer history. In his 1929 story The Shot Into Infinity, scientifiction writer Otto Willi Gail describes the testing of a newly designed space suit:

Suchinow silently slipped into the costume and allowed Korf to screw on the helmet with the oxygen chambers. Then he placed himself in the center of the chamber. In one of his leather-covered hands Korf placed a burning candle. Then he closed the door, through the glass window of which all the proceedings could be witnessed. They could clearly hear an electric bell in the chamber, which Korf switched on.

The pump began to work. The candle flickered and went out. The bell seemed to sound fainter and fainter, though the clapper kept on striking. korf shut off the pump.

"Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space. Yet Mr. Suchinow, with whom we cannot communicate at present, certainly feels alright."

Sam looked through the window, and laughed out loud. In fact Suchinow presented a very comical appearance. The suit had swelled to its fullest extent and had taken on the shape much like that of the favorite rubber dolls of festival times.

Probably the earliest description of an Extra-Vehicular Activity can be found in Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garret P. Serviss, published by the New York Evening Journal in 1898. See the entry for electrical 'tether'.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/6/2024)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")

SETI Suggests Prospecting The Solar System Without Landing
'From a distance it could resolve the cosmic rays reflected from various substances.' - Philip Nowlan w/D. Calkins, 1929.

Cislunar Space And The Space Lanes of Golden Age Science Fiction
'He had travelled the space-lanes of the solar system for the greater part of his life...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1928.

NASA Moonbase Update
'The dinner was excellent. It was completely vegetarian — grown in specially prepared gardens in this Moon base...' - Jim Vanny, 1931.

The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?' - Robert Heinlein, 1941.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'

Can Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Control The Weather?
'...I saw a nice black heavy-looking cloud sailing by just now, and I can get the electrical machine out in five minutes to draw it down.'

SETI Suggests Prospecting The Solar System Without Landing
'From a distance it could resolve the cosmic rays reflected from various substances.'

Wolfram Alpha Mathematica Predicted by Science Fiction in 1948!
'The answer to the dumb student's prayer.'

Cislunar Space And The Space Lanes of Golden Age Science Fiction
'He had travelled the space-lanes of the solar system for the greater part of his life...'

NASA Moonbase Update
'The dinner was excellent. It was completely vegetarian — grown in specially prepared gardens in this Moon base...'

Neuralink Will Allow Humans To Communicate With ... Animals?
'Telepaths had their sensitiveness enlarged to an immense range by the pin-sets, which were telepathic amplifiers adapted to the mammal mind.'

Special Lights For Driverless Cars!
'That light is actually the Anamorphic Equalizer...'

'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'

Harrison Bergeron, Illustrated And Practiced
'But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts. George winced...'

Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'

The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'

'Maybe The Woman Of Your Life Is Still Under Production'
'The Dillard people had performed a miracle and put all the works in a girl-modeled case.'

'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'

Epirus High-Power Microwave Defeats Drones
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'

Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories
Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™
Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.