Ask Me Everything"

W

•CS

h>

O

CD

$

0)

Ł

o

O-

<D

Advanced crew escape suit

This is worn for launch and return to Earth. The orange fabric makes the astronaut highly visible in an emergency.

Spacesuit

The white spacesuit protects astronauts from the space environment and supplies oxygen to breathe when they are spacewalking.

Spacewalkers

Around 500 astronauts have been into space, but only around 200 have spacewalked.

■ Before leaving their craft, astronauts spend hours in an airlock to get used to the low-pressure, pure-oxygen atmosphere of their spacesuit.

Walking on the Moon

• So far, 12 men have walked on the Moon. They went on six different Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972.

• The first was Neil Armstrong on Juty 21,1969.

• The last to step off was Eugene Cernan on December 14, 1972.

• The 12 astronauts spent 300 hours on the Moon,

80 of these outside their craft.

•The astronauts found that loping (taking long strides), or occasionally making kangaroo hops were the best ways to move across the Moon’s surface.

(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. Ali Rights Reserved.

Underwear

Under the spacesuit is a one-piece stretchy suit that keeps the astronaut |f cool. Chilled water flows through 300 ft (91.5 m) P of tubes within the suit.

Under this is an adult-size diaper!

Launch essentials

Items that astronauts wear or have in their pockets when they launch include:

Heimet

The main part of the heimet is a elear plastic bubble. This is covered by the extra-vehicular visor assembly.

A TV camera and lights can be attached to the heimet.

Gloves

Spacesuit gloves have a thumb and fingertips molded from silicone rubber for sensitivity. Heaters in the fingertips prevent the astronauts’ fingers from getting cold.

Leisurewear

An astronaut has a choice of long- and short-sleeved polo shirts, jerseys, sweaters, T-shirts, and shorts to wear while working, relaxing, or exercising inside their craft.

f

Sunglasses

Flares

Wristwatch

Sick bag

Penknife

Flashlight

Gloves

Thermal socks ID bracelet Handkerchief Scissors Calculator

■ Spacewalking astronauts wear SAFER (Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue), a backpack with rocket thrusters that propel them to their craft if their tether breaks.

■ Tasks performed by spacewalkers include carrying out repairs, monitoring an experiment, or helping construct the ISS.

■ So far, around 800 hours have been spent on spacewalks outside the ISS.

Uostin space

^OCCTo1atoolwhenona

lets go ^ away and

Tickets to space

Astronauts from around the world are flown into space by just three countries: the U.S.A., Russia, and China. Seven space tourists have paid around $25 million each to travel on-board a Russian Soyuz craft for a one-week stay on-board the ISS.