Dressing For the Occasion

Almost every place you go to requires that you dress a certain way. When you go to the beach you wouldn't wear a tuxedo! When you go to church you wouldn't wear a bathing suit! When astronauts go into space they also dress for the occasion.

I recently visited the Flight Crew Hardware Office that is located in the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF). Ronald Woods took the time out of his busy schedule to show me around the shop and explain how they prepare space suits each time a mission departs Kennedy Space Center. The room that I visited Ron in was VERY clean and everything had its place. It reminded me much of being in a hospital. The long stainless steel tables and shiny floor gave that feeling of an operating room where everything is accounted for action by action. I never realized that there was so much to a space suit before this meeting. Ron also took the time to explain how the hardware is processed at Kennedy prior to each mission and it was equally as impressive. Many of the things that we take for granted here on Earth have to be reconsidered for use in the microgravity environment of space. An example of this would be the act of simply placing something on a table. In space, placing something is no guarantee that it will be there when you reach for it again. Everything is packed a certain way and most items are tethered so they don't float off. I will not be able to address all of the issues regarding space suits in this journal; however I would like to refer you to this web site so that you can conduct your own research regarding space suits! http://tommy.jsc.nasa.gov/~woodfill/SPACEED/SEHHTML/suitnasa.html

Here are some pictures that I took during my visit that will help you to visualize the construction of space suits.

	Ron demonstrates how the helmet attaches to the fiberglass upper torso of the space suit. He points out that the ring that the helmet attaches to has been a standard size from many previous space suit designs.
	This photograph shows the upper torso of the space suit. The shell is made of hard fiberglass and has numerous receptacles for communications and water. It must be aligned with the other components of the space suit to enable circulation of water and gas into the liquid cooling ventilation garment and return.
	All fabric-to-hardware connections are made with either mechanical joints or adhesive bonding. Materials used in the construction of the suit are selected to prevent fungus or bacteria growth; however, the suit must be cleaned and dried after flight use.

Ron explained that the space suits and hardware that are received in their shop are meticulously inspected and so is the paper work that accompanies each item. This shop is the last configuration checkpoint before the equipment goes to the pad for launch! Each piece of hardware will eventually go into the space shuttle in a very specific location. This is important because of weight distribution and balance in the orbiter and it allows the crew to account for all items that are accompanying them on the mission. An actual drawing called the crew compartment configuration drawing dictates where each item of hardware will go. It is much like packing your suitcase to go on a long trip. Months prior to a mission, a daily telephone conference takes place called the mission management briefing. If there are any changes to the crew compartment configuration they are identified during this meeting and then documented in the crew compartment configuration drawing.

All of the equipment is contained in what is referred to as lockers, volumes, or kits. A locker is a container that is packed in a very specific manner. A volume may be hard or soft and fit into contours of the orbiter or underneath the floor. A kit is usually an item that will contain many components but be used to support a specific function. An example of this would be oxygen lines or cabling to power an experiment.

Experiments are also processed through the Flight Crew Hardware Office and undergo the same inspections that deem them flight worthy - or not.

Even food is checked and identified for each crewmember. Each crewmember selects their food from a pre-flight meal list for the duration of the mission. The Commander's meals are identified with a red dot. A yellow dot identifies the pilots' selection and so on. All of this food is contained in a volume. There is also a "fresh food" menu that the astronauts select from. Examples of this type of food are bananas, fish crackers, peanut butter, flour tortillas, and many other selections.

Once the lockers, volumes, and kits are checked out and closed, they are not opened again until the astronauts use them. After all of the items are packed, they are placed in a "flight crew vehicle" that transports them to the pad. This may take several trips and follows a particular order with the most perishable items being last - such as experiments. This entire process takes almost two weeks!

Ron points out that this is only part of the job. Once an orbiter returns to Earth, all of the items are once again accounted for, inspected, and delivered to specific locations. We will follow up on that process in Ron's next journal!