I mastered the moonwalk and walked around the pavilion where lunar gravity is simulated
Last Thursday, I instantly “lost weight” 6 times! This effect was achieved by exposing me to the lunar, reduced gravity. I had a chance to walk along the Luna at the experimental site of the Zvezda Research and Production Enterprise, in a prototype of a lunar space suit. It was a kind of open «premiere» of protective space attire — the correspondent of «MK» had the honor of being the first to try on lunar «armor».
As we have already reported, the prototype of the Russian lunar space suit, made by craftsmen from Zvezda, was tested in June at the Cosmonaut Training Center named after. Yu.A. Gagarin. The equipment in which our cosmonauts will inhabit the Moon in the 2030s is based on the design ideas of the Soviet Krechet lunar spacesuit and the Orlan spacesuit for orbital work. As a result, a new modern spacesuit was obtained, which, according to the creators, meets the basic requirements for working in the conditions of a natural satellite of the Earth.
Several members of the Roscosmos cosmonaut team have already tested this suit in action, noting its great “mobility” during operation.
Unlike Orlan-MKS, in which Russian cosmonauts now work during extravehicular activity, their lunar counterpart has a higher “door” for entry, a shorter cuirass to protect the chest and back. For the first time, movable «arms and legs» appeared, equipped with hinges for bending the knees and ankles while walking.
MK correspondent in spacesuit
What journalist would refuse to try on a space suit in accordance with all the rules, moreover, its new modification, intended for the Moon! First of all, I put on cotton overalls, socks and white gloves. On top of this, she put on a special water-cooled mesh suit, all pierced with plastic tubes with coolant (just like all astronauts put on before extravehicular activities). Then it was the turn to “enter” the suit itself.
MK correspondent in space suit
Since there were taller people working in it before me, I honestly drowned a little in its depths.
“Shall we shorten the legs?”, “Remove the bearings from under the armpits!”, I heard the voices of the Zvezda employees, who adjusted their experimental product to fit me. After the pressure was increased in the spacesuit and my ears were stuffed up, as in the plane, my assistants were still deciding out loud whether they would hang me up or not — this was in order to simulate that very reduced lunar gravity, equal to 1/6 of the earth's. Decided to hang up. A huge crane, designed for 10 tons (I definitely weigh less) lifted me a little with a spacesuit, so that my legs touched the surface very easily. And when I tried to use them to execute the first command: to go forward the first 10 steps “on the Moon”, they suddenly refused to obey me. Gravity, you see, was not enough for them to take a full step! If at that moment I was in the wind, I would be blown away like a leaf. Fortunately, there was no wind in the pavilion… Having suffered a little, I heeded the advice of the chief designer Sergei Pozdnyakov and began to move forward, bouncing a little. The thing went. “Well, the spitting image of Aldrin, only the flag is missing in the hands!”, “Apollo 13!” — the jokes of the employees rushed after me. And when, not on the first try, but nevertheless, I jumped onto the step of a ladder imitating the ladder of a ship that had landed on the moon, it was perceived as a real victory — I broke the applause.
Victory Rise to the Stair Step
In general, it was fun and educational to experience myself in an unusual state — after all, a person can adapt to almost any conditions of existence!
When I got rid of the spacesuit , then I asked Sergey Sergeyevich if there are any serious differences between our lunar spacesuit and the American one?
“Conceptually, they are similar, as similar to each other, for example, all modern cars,” says Pozdnyakov. Does an astronaut need oxygen? Needed! Do you need to take carbon dioxide out? Need to! They also have water-cooled suits (CVO), like ours. For a long time they did not recognize our scheme of entering the spacesuit through the “door”, using spacesuits from two halves: upper and lower. But the new ones are again designed, like us — with the entrance to a single spacesuit. Perhaps the only difference that remains is the heat exchange system. In Americans, it is multi-circuit, cunning (we saw it in publications). They took a difficult path in this regard, and, most likely, due to last year's failure in the heat exchanger, their lunar program slowed down. Will they remake it, we'll see.
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And the Chinese, who are also going to the moon in 2030, how are things going with spacesuits? — I ask.
— They are doing well, — their spacesuits are very reminiscent of our Sokol, Kazbek, Orlan …
In fact, in the future, spacesuits will represent miniature spaceships with a built-in automatic thermal control system, a large display on the control panel, additional protective layers that can save not only from sticky lunar dust, but even from micrometeorites. Which of them will best pass the tests on the moon, time will tell. Well, of course, we will root for our … «Lunny».