1. Space Suit Science Supported by:
As far as we are aware all images in this presentation are public domain unless otherwise stated
Science Oxford logo © Science Oxford
UK Space Agency logo used with permission
Astronaut line drawing released under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial license
This document is updated regularly please check back to see if you have the most recent version.
Current version – 1st September 2014

2. Why do astronauts need space suits?
What do people need to survive?
What is space like?
When do they use them?
Astronaut Image used under license

3. Need to create similar conditions to being on Earth

4. Oxygen
Just like a diver under water, an astronaut needs a supply of air/oxygen to breath. It is likely that when thinking about space suits that pupils will focus principally on the supply of air/oxygen to the astronaut.
As well as supplying oxygen, it is also important to remove the carbon dioxide as too much carbon dioxide is dangerous and could kill people.

5. By getting pupils to consider what space is like they might also realise that a spacesuit needs to keep the astronaut warm/cool. Pupils often imagine that space is always cold, but if astronauts are in direct sunlight the external temperature can be very high indeed. According to NASA, for astronauts in Earth orbit the temperature might vary from -150˚C to +120˚C depending on whether astronauts are in direct sunlight or not.
Image: " Bimetall-Zeigerthermometer" by Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons -
Temperature

6. The idea of pressure being important may be unfamiliar to your pupils
The idea of pressure being important may be unfamiliar to your pupils. On Earth, we always have the air pushing on the outside of our skin, but in space there is no air to push on the skin. If you didn’t have a space suit providing pressure then the astronaut’s body would swell up (NB in spite of what it says in science fiction stories, skin is strong enough to stop people ‘exploding’ in space).
Pressure

7. Protection from micrometeorites
Astronauts may be hit by bits of space dust or ‘micrometeorites’ (much smaller than the meteorites shown on this stamp). Although these are very small, they are often travelling very fast so could potentially damage the astronaut or spacesuit if they hit it. As a result, the outside layer of a spacesuit is designed to protect astronauts from damage caused by micrometeorites hitting or ‘impacting’ them.
Protection from micrometeorites

8. Protection from radiation
The sun produces radiation that can hurt people. We know that even on Earth if we stay out in the sun too long that we can get sunburn from a type of radiation called ultra-violet (UV) radiation. We can protect ourselves from this radiation with sun cream/sun block. Spacesuits are also designed to protect astronauts from radiation, but if high radiation levels are expected, astronauts avoid leaving their spacecraft if at all possible.
Protection from radiation

9. Different layers of the spacesuit
Cooling layers
Pressure layers
Thermal Micrometeorite Garment
Other parts
Oxygen tanks (and CO2 removal)
Communications equipment
Drinking water / emergency food
To provide all of these functions a spacesuit has multiple layers. These include an inner layer next to the skin that keeps the body cool by piping cold water round it, layers that keep the insulate the astronaut from high/low temperatures, layers to reflect radiation from the sun and a tough outer layer to resist micrometeorite impact.
Other things that spacesuit designers need to include/think about:
Astronauts being able to see what they are doing
Communications
Flexibility of the suit

10. Space Suit Science Competition
Your mission: To design an experiment to test some different materials that could be used to insulate an astronaut glove
In this investigation we are concentrating on the layer(s) of the spacesuit that provide thermal insulation.

11. Insulation
Insulation can be used to keep things hot OR to keep them cold. Insulators slow down the movement of heat into OR away from objects
Cooler Photo – Rubbermaid on flickr
NB Insulation slows down the movement of heat. Heat always flows from a hotter object to a colder object. Insulators stop things getting hot by slowing down the heat entering them and they stop things getting cold by slowing down the heat leaving them (rather than, as pupils may believe, slowing down the ‘cold’ entering them).

12. Materials available for testing
Edit this slide to include the materials that you are providing.

13. Which materials make the best insulators?
- How could you test to find out?
Are they flexible enough to allow the astronaut to move easily?

14. Picture prompts to help pupils come up with experiment ideas.
Thermometer
Ice
Hot water bottle
Kettle
Ice Pack
Stopwatch
Beaker
Sponge cloths (example material for testing)
Hot Water Bottle Image: Creative Commons Image:Wärmflasche1.jpg by User:Peng (from Wikimedia)

15. A good experiment Only change one thing
Measure carefully and accurately
Record results well
Plan what you need
Think about safety
Don’t be afraid to change things

16. Things to include on your poster
A Title
Names of team members / team name
Some information about space suits
Some information on insulation
Which materials you tested
How you tested them
Why you tested them that way
What you found out
Anything that surprised you
What you would change if you did the experiment again
Which material(s) you would use for an astronaut glove