Space Suit Testing in Flagstaff, Ariz. - Part 2

Field Trip Log
9/4/00

Our first day of activity in Flagstaff! Joe, the lead engineer; Dean, the geologist/test subject; and I, the junior engineer, scouted out two of our three test sites today. Cinder Lake is where we'll do our first test. It is a large, relatively flat area where a bunch of volcanic cinder was dumped. The cinder is about 5 feet deep and feels like you're walking on sand or thick snow. It takes some effort to walk and will be a challenge for our test subjects. The site was actually used during the Apollo program for space suit tests and astronaut training. We will be using some of the craters that they created for the astronaut training. Pretty neat!

The second test site that we scouted is called SP Mountain. Dean brought along a book about the volcanoes of northern Arizona. The book describes SP Mountain as a cinder cone, so it was actually a volcano itself! It has a lava flow out one side of it and that is where we will actually be doing our testing. The site is pretty far off of the main road and it is very quiet. All you can see for miles is rangeland. You can almost imagine a cowboy driving a herd across it. Just over the ridge, that you can see to the north, is the Grand Canyon.

After we got done scouting we went back to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The technicians were checking out our equipment and the breathing air that we had delivered. After the trip, all of our equipment still looks to be in good shape, but tomorrow will be the true test.

Tomorrow we do the first two suit runs. We are going to Cinder Lake. Dean will do the first run in the morning and will perform the power cable deployment task in the I-Suit. Kevin, in the I-Suit, will perform the solar panel deployment task in the afternoon. On Wednesday they'll swap tasks and will be in the Mark III suit. That way we get to compare the functionality of the suits in the performance of the same tasks. Very interesting. I'm looking forward to actually getting down to testing. But, today was very important too. One thing that I have learned from Joe is that there is no substitute for being prepared. If that means triple checking everything, then we triple check it. Another thing that I have learned is that it is nigh on impossible to have too much data. Today we used Joe's logbook from the last Flagstaff field trip to find the turn off to SP Mountain (it isn't very obvious). He had recorded how many miles down the road it was and we found the turnoff easily.

Well, tonight we are going into town to have New Zealand cuisine. Should be interesting. I bet they have lamb on the menu! I've got fifteen minutes to be ready. Better sign off. Tomorrow-suit runs!

9/5/00

Whew! It was a big day. This was our first day of suit tests. We met for breakfast at 0700, left for the USGS at 0730, left from there for Cinder Lake at 0800, and arrived at Cinder Lake 0830.

When we got to Cinder Lake, we were concerned about some of the vehicles getting stuck in the cinders. Walking on the cinders feels like walking on loose sand or snow. So, we picked which vehicles we thought had the best chance of making it to the test site and, more importantly, back out and then we loaded up all of the equipment we needed onto those vehicles. We headed out to the test site, which was about a quarter way out onto the Cinder Lake and left the other vehicles on the more solid road.

The first test in the field always takes longer to do than when we're practiced. Even though we practiced on the rock pile at JSC, being in the field always brings a new dimension of things to think about. We carefully selected the place to park the vehicles so that most of the activity would be down wind of the suit. Walking around on the cinders kicks up a lot of dust and we don't want to coat the suit in it.

This was the first field test with the ATRV Jr. robot (not to mention two of the robot people and three of the suit technicians), so they had a learning curve too. Yesterday they put on bigger tires that they hoped would move better on the cinders. They did, but still during the test drive it couldn't go up the slope of the crater, although it got down into just fine. This caused us to change the planned translation path for the cable deployment task.

We finally got the first test started about 1030. It went pretty well. One interesting observation was that sometimes when the robot (which was pulling the trailer with the cable reels) turned, the tension on the cable reels was tight enough that the cable didn't unreel but just dragged behind the trailer. Another major comment from both of the suit subjects was that the boots were very hard to walk in. The boots don't fit the subjects well and they ended up walking on their tiptoes. The boots do incorporate inflatable bladders that are supposed to help fill up the extra space and fit the boot to the foot, but the system needs refinement.

We took a break at lunch. We resized the I-Suit for Kevin. We'd planned for Kevin to deploy the solar panel, but the winds were 12 mph, with gusts up to 23 mph, so it was way too windy. Instead, Kevin also deployed the power cable.

The runs were pretty short. We are all still getting used to the altitude, including the test subjects, plus it is just plain hard work carrying a suit around on these cinders.

Around 1430 we packed up for the day, went back to the USGS and got ready for tomorrow. We had to top off our liquid air dewar, put fresh batteries in the communication equipment, take the liquid air backpack off of the I-Suit and put it on the Mark III, and various other chores. We got back to the hotel around 1700 (5:00 pm.).

This evening I took a walk, and then went to dinner with the guys at 1900. I'll make it to bed around 2230 (10:30 p.m.) and then we'll be ready for tomorrow.

9/6/00

Today we were hoping to do the solar panel deployment with each subject. When we first got out to Cinder Lake it was overcast, a little cool, but nice and calm. Winds were only about five mph. However, as we were getting set up the wind picked up to 10 mph with gusts to 17 mph. The solar panel task is all but impossible in those conditions, so we decided to do another power cable deployment. We switched out the equipment and informed everyone of the change in plans. Of course, by the time we were ready to go, the winds had died back down. Maybe this afternoon we will get a solar panel run done.

This power cable run will be of interest to the folks in the Exploration Office. They want some data regarding the length of cable needed to run a cable a certain distance. If you have to avoid obstacles as you deploy the cable to a point 300 feet away as the crow flies then you'll need more than 300 feet of cable. If we can get an idea of just how much extra cable we'll need, it will help in planning for future exploration missions.

Well, Dean is getting into the Mark III now, so I've got to go support. More at lunch.

1700 / 5:00 pm
Dean's run went very well. We did the cable deployment around obstacles (craters) and then had time to do the solar panel run, too. The limiting factor on how much we can get done in any single run is the time on the liquid air backpack. We can usually get 45 minutes out of it. Dean said that the boot inserts that he tried in the Mark III this time gave him the best boot fit he's ever had. The robot used its onboard systems to follow a compass heading when we deployed the solar panel. Dean's job during the solar panel run is to anchor the solar panel in place using weighted spikes. This is actually a two-person job, with one person anchoring each side. Kevin, unsuited, anchored the other side. Dean gave us some suggestions on how we could improve the anchoring tool and some challenges that he faced during the deployment. One of the challenges was that he had to grab the anchor weights off of pallets on the moving rover with the anchor insertion tool. This took a lot of mental concentration, as well as physical coordination.

While we were eating lunch, the San Francisco Mountains began to disappear behind the clouds. Joe decided that discretion was the better part of valor, so we packed up and headed back to the USGS.

Tomorrow we are going to meet with the folks at Meteor Crater, look at another potential test site, and the technicians are going to un-dust the equipment.

1930 / 7:30pm
Tonight at dinner at the hotel, we met some folks from the USGS who went down the Grand Canyon, mapping sediment deposition. We watched our video from the tests on the TV in the dining area. They were very interested and tomorrow they are going to share their video from their trip down the Colorado River. It is fun to meet other people excited about their work and interested in yours. It is always great to see how interested people are in the space program.