Long-term operation of "Orlan" space suits in the "Mir" orbiting station: experience obtained and its application

The started assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) and its further operation will call for a great number of extravehicular activity sorties (EVA) to be performed by ISS crews. Therefore, of great importance is to make use of the EVA experience gained by cosmonauts in the process of 15-year operation of the Mir orbiting station (OS). Over the 15-year period, Mir crewmembers wearing Orlan type semi-rigid space suits have accumulated 158 man/sorties from the orbiting station. Crewmembers used 15 suits in orbit and some of the suits were in operation for more than 3 years. The paper presents principal design features, which provide effective and safe operation of orbit-based suits, and briefly describes procedures for preparation and maintenance of suit systems, which ensure long-term operation of space suit in orbit. The paper gives results of the space suit modifications, presents suit performance characteristics and lists novel or upgraded components of the space suit and its systems. The paper also summarizes improvements in the Orlan type suits described in some earlier publications. They refer, in the first run, to the improvement of space suit operations characteristics and reliability, and the utilization of the Orlan type space suit in the ISS program. The paper analyses the experience gained and drawbacks detected and observations made, and gives statistical data on long-term space suit operations aboard the Mir station. The paper reviews certain problems in the process of EVAs performed from the station, and describes the ways of their solution as applied to the further utilization of the suit within the ISS program.     

Some problems of selection and evaluation of the Martian suit enclosure concept

One of the most important tasks for preparation of a future manned mission to Mars is to create a space suit, which ensures efficient and safe operation of the man on the planet surface.

The concept of space suit (SS) utilisation on the Mars surface will be determined mainly by the Mars mission scenario. Currently the preference is given to utilisation of robotics with the crew driving a Mars rover vehicle, whereby the suit will be used solely as an additional safety means.

However, one cannot exclude the necessity of a durable self-contained stay of the man outside a pressurised compartment, to pick up, for instance, soil samples or do certain repair work in case of an emergency.

The requirements to the Mars suit and especially to the personal self-contained life support system (LSS) will depend in many respects on the Mars environmental conditions, the space vehicle system concept and performance characteristics, the airlock and its interface design, the availability of expendable elements for the LSS, etc.

The paper reviews principal problems, which have to be solved during development of the Martian suit. A special attention is paid to the issue of suited man mobility during traversing on the planet surface.

The paper also reviews the arguments for application of a suit semi-rigid design concept and evaluates potentialities of using certain elements of the existing “Orlan” type suit.

The paper presents results of a number of studies on selection of the planetary SS enclosure concept and on experimental evaluation of mobility of the lower torso and leg enclosures in conjunction with a specially designed prototype model (tentative model) of the SS enclosure.     

The experience in operation and improving the Orlan-type space suits

Nowadays significant experience has been gained in Russia concerning extravehicular activity (EVA) with cosmonauts wearing a semi-rigid space suit of the "Orlan" type. The conditions for the cosmonauts' vital activities, the operational and ergonomic features of the space suit and its reliability are the most critical factors defining the efficiency of the scheduled operation to be performed by the astronaut and his safety. As the missions performed by the cosmonauts during EVA become more and more elaborate, the requirements for EVA space suits and their systems become more and more demanding, resulting in their consistent advancement. This paper provides certain results of the space suit's operation and analysis of its major problems as applied to the Salyut and MIR orbiting stations. The modification steps of the space suit in the course of operation (Orlan-D, Orlan-DM, Orlan-DMA) and its specific features are presented. The concept of the suited cosmonauts' safety is described as well as trends for future space suit improvements.     

The Soviet/Russian spacesuit history: Part III—The European connection

The European spacesuit system (ESSS) initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the late 1980s had many similarities with the Soviet/Russian ORLAN spacesuit system, due to the Hermes system requirements. First, direct contacts in 1989 permitted closer comparison of the two suit systems, and soon the ORLAN manufacturer Zvezda could be contracted as support to the European spacesuit team. In particular, the suit enclosure design and predevelopment testing and operational analysis were performed in close cooperation between Zvezda and the European team under Dornier.

With the changing system requirements and a closer cooperation between ESA and the new Russian Space Agency (RKA) a new joint spaceplane/stations mission scenario came about. This scenario could be served by one spacesuit system, EVA SUIT 2000, which was to be jointly developed by a team headed by Zvezda and Dornier for ESA and RKA. ORLAN-DMA and ESSS experience and hardware were the initial platforms for these activities to create a new generation spacesuits for the Mir 2 and later the ISSs.

A suit demonstrator was manufactured and tested by the end of 1994 when ESA stopped its spacesuit development activities and the joint EVA SUIT 2000 project was terminated. However, many of the features designed, manufactured and tested for the EVA SUIT 2000 were then implemented by Zvezda in the new Russian spacesuit system ORLAN-M, now in full operation onboard the ISS.     

Main problems of the Russian Orlan-M space suit utilization for EVAs on the ISS

In the recent years the Russian Orlan-M space suits have been improved as applied to their operational requirements for the ISS. A special attention is paid to enhancement of EVA crew efficiency and safety. The paper considers the main problems regarding specific features of the Russian space suit operation in the ISS, and analyses measures on their solution. In particular, the problems associated with the following are considered: enhancement of the anthropometric range for the EVA crewmembers; use of some US EMU elements and unified NASA equipment elements; Orlan-M operation support in the wide range of the ISS thermal conditions; use of Simplified Aid For Extravehicular activity Rescue (SAFER) designed as a self-rescue device, which will be used for an EVA crewmember return in the event that he (she) breaks away inadvertently from the ISS surface. The paper states the main space suit differences with reference to solution of the above problems. The paper presents briefly the design of space suit arms developed for crewmembers with small anthropometric parameters, as well as peculiarities and test results for the gloves with enhanced thermal protection. Measures on further space suit development with the purpose to improve its performances are considered.     

Improvement of the extravehicular activity suit for the MIR orbiting station program

Since 1977, EVA suits of the semi-rigid type have been used to support sorties from Russian orbiting stations. Currently, within the MIR station program, the Orlan-DMA, the latest modification of the Orlan semi-rigid EVA suit is used by crewmembers. Quite some experience has been gained by Russia in operations of the Orlan type suits. It has proved the advantages of the EVA suit of a semi-rigid configuration, featuring donning/doffing through a hinged backpack door with a built-in life support system. Meanwhile there were some wishes and comments from the crewmembers addressed to the enclosure design and some LSS components. Currently a number of ways and methods are being developed to improve operational characteristics of the suit as well as to enhance its reliability and lifetime. The forthcoming EVAs to be performed by the STS-MIR crewmembers and future EVAs from the common airlock of the International Space Station Alpha make implementation of the planned improvements even more consistent. The paper analyzes the experience gained in the Orlan-DMA operation and discusses planned improvements in light of the forthcoming activities. In particular the Orlan enhancement program is aimed to make the donning/doffing easier, enhance enclosure mobility, improve the condensate removal unit, increase the CCC (Contamination Control Cartridge) operation time and simplify the onboard subsystem design concept.     

The Soviet-Russian space suits a historical overview of the 1960's

The development of protective suits for space use started with the Vostok-suit SK-1, first used by Yu. Gagarin on April 12, 1961, and then used on all subsequent Vostok-flights. The technical background for the design of these suits was the work on full pressure protective suits for military pilots and stratospheric flights in the 1930's through 50's. The Soviet-Russian space programme contains a large number of 'firsts', and one of the most well known is the first EVA by Leonov in 1965. This event is also the starting point for a long series of space suit development for Extravehicular Activities over the last 35 years. The next step to come was the transfer in void space of crew members between the two spacecraft Soyuz 4 and 5 in 1969. As has later become known this was an essential element in the planned Soviet lunar exploration programme, which in itself required a new space suit. After the termination of the lunar programme in 1972, the space suit development concentrated on suits applicable to zero-gravity work around the manned space stations Salyut 6, Salyut 7 and MIR. These suits have become known as the ORLAN-family of suits, and an advanced version of this suit (ORLAN-M) will be used on the International Space Station together with the American EMU. This paper covers the space suit development in the Soviet Union in the 1960's and the experience used from the pre-space era.     

EVA 2000: a European/Russian space suit concept

For the European manned space activities an EVA space suit system was being developed in the frame of the Hermes Space Vehicle Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The space suit was to serve the needs for all relevant extravehicular activities for the Hermes Columbus operations planned to begin in 2004. For the present Russian manned space programme the relevant EVAs are performed by the Orlan-DMA semi-rigid space suit. The origin of its development reaches back to the 1970s and has since been adapted to cover the needs for extravehicular activities on Salyut and MIR until today. The latest modification of the space suit, which guaranteed its completely self-contained operation, was made in 1988. However, Russian specialists considered it necessary to start developing an EVA space suit of a new generation, which would have improved performance and would cover the needs by the turn of the century and into the beginning of the next century. Potentially these two suit developments could have a lot in common based on similarities in present concepts. As future manned space activities become more and more an international effort, a safe and reliable interoperability of the different space suit systems is required. Based on the results of the Munich Minister Conference in 1991, the European Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency agreed to initiate a requirements analysis and conceptual design study to determine the feasibility of a joint space suit development, EVA 2000. The design philosophy for the EVA 2000 study was oriented on a space suit system design of: space suit commonality and interoperability; increased crew productivity and safety; increase in useful life and reduced maintainability; reduced development and production cost. The EVA 2000 feasibility study was performed in 1992, and with the positive conclusions for EVA 2000, this approach became the new joint European Russian EVA Suit 2000 Development Programme. This paper gives an overview of the results of the feasibility study and presents the joint requirements and the proposed design concept of a jointly developed European Russian space suit.     

EVA Suit 2000: a joint European/Russian space suit design

A feasibility study in 1992 showed the benefits of a common European Russian space suit development, EVA Suit 2000, replacing the Russian space suit Orlan-DMA and the planned European Hermes EVA space suit at the turn of the century. This EVA Suit 2000 is a joint development initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space Agency (RKA). The main objectives of this development program are: first utilization aboard the Russian Space Station MIR-2; performance improvement with respect to current operational suits; development cost reduction. Russian experience gained with the present extravehicular activity (EVA) suit on the MIR Space Station and extensive application of European Technologies will be needed to achieve these ambitious goals. This paper presents the current status of the development activities, the space suit system design and concentrates in more detail on life support aspects. Specific subjects addressed will include the overall life support conceptual architecture, design features, crew comfort and operational considerations.     

Ensuring of long operation life of the orbiting station EVA space suit

Russia has gained a lot of experience in operating the space suits (SS) during the extravehicular activities (EVA) by the crews of SALYUT-6, SALYUT-7 and MIR orbiting stations. A total of 21 Orlan-type space suits of various models were operated onboard the orbiting stations (OS) during almost 20 years period. Some of these space suits served up to 3 years in orbit. The paper reviews special features of long SS operation (without return to the Earth) onboard an orbiting station as well as the problems associated with SS repeated use by several crews. An analysis of measures to support solving of the problems of SS long stay and reliable operation onboard the orbiting station is made: selection of a corresponding SS type and separate elements design; selection of the materials; routine and preventive maintenance; development tests. The advantages of the space suit of a semi-rigid type for solving the above problems are shown. The paper includes a short analysis of space suits' operation onboard the Russian orbiting station MIR, and some restuts of inspection of the Orlan-DMA space suit returned to the Earth from orbit by STS-79 alter long operation in orbit. Recommendations on further improvement of the space suits for EVA operations in the International Space Station (ISS) are given.