Eric's Beijing Diary

It's actually like a small spacecraft for one person. The space suit is designed to protect astronauts when they are in space, but outside the space station or other spacecraft. When we see astronauts in these things, we don't realize what goes into making them, and the kinds of problems that they have to address. As we contemplate the development of new kinds of spaceships, the space suit remains one of the most extraordinary technological developments in aerospace history. I still don't get how a suit like this can protect against the hideous extremes of temperature in space. The range is five hundred degrees (250 degrees above zero to 250 degrees below zero). But they manage to do it. Another problem in space is that, since there is no atmosphere, astronauts can be hit with tiny particles travelling at very high speeds. It all just seems very risky. But to this day, no astronaut has ever died in a space suit in space.

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Labels: Aerospace