How SpaceX Created the Original Spacesuit for Crew Dragon Astronauts (video)

Successful start of the first in a decadea manned spacecraft launched from the United States has been actively discussed for a long time by specialists, engineers and ordinary astronautics. SpaceX has applied the latest technology to the Crew Dragon spacecraft, an improved control system and introduced a number of original engineering solutions. When discussing Dragon's launch, special attention was paid to the unusual, futuristic costumes worn by the crew members, astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken.

SpaceX has released a short videoless than two and a half minutes long, entitled "Inside the Space Suit Lab", which describes the main stages of creating space suits and explains its unusual design. The basic principle in the creation of the spacesuit was its integration with the technical and information systems of the spacecraft.

The costume, the look of which aroused admiration andsimultaneously spawned a lot of jokes and memes, was completely developed in the bowels of the SpaceX laboratories and belongs to the class of light emergency rescue suits. The main task of these suits is to provide a comfortable stay of astronauts in the spacecraft during takeoff and landing. The spacesuit is not designed for spacewalk and will only be able to protect an astronaut during an emergency ejection within the Earth's atmosphere.

The Crew Dragon suits were originallyDesigned as a mock-up by Hollywood-based artist Jose Fernandez, who has created the costumes for Batman, Iron Man, Spider-Man and other superheroes. And only after creating a spectacular design, engineers began to work, saturating the suits with electronic filling and combining it with the systems of the spacecraft.

Every SpaceX suit is madeindividually for a specific crew member. This also applies to gloves and original boots, which are equipped with sealed zippers to insulate the astronauts from the environment. To put on the spacesuit, the astronauts unfasten the main airtight zipper located between the legs.

Main technical parameters of spacesuitsare SpaceX trade secrets and are currently classified. It is known that when working in a spacecraft, a spacesuit is connected to life support systems through a cable, which allows it to receive energy for the operation of communication systems, to maintain normal pressure inside the spacesuit. It is known that the fabric of the suit is multi-layered and one of the outer layers is fire-resistant. Also, the astronaut's hearing protection system is built into the spacesuit.

Suit helmet made using 3Dseal and equipped with communication means and a pressure regulating valve. The astronauts' gloves also work under internal pressure, and their surface allows the ship to be controlled using touch screens.

The costumes took the company 4 years to create. The prototype of the spacesuit has been flying in outer space on a Starman dummy sitting in Elon Musk's cherry Tesla Roadster for two years. In the near future, according to SpaceX's plans on August 2, the suits will be tested in real-time mode of landing of astronauts completing the Demo-2 mission.