A Pressure Suit

A pressure suit is a protective suit worn byremovable faceplate that could accommodate
high-altitude pilots who may fly at altitudes where theearphones and a throat microphone. In the first flight
air pressure is too low for an unprotected person tousing the suit on September 5, 1934, Post reached an
survive, even breathing pure oxygen at positivealtitude of 40,000 feet above Chicago, and in later
pressure. Such suits may be either full-pressure (i.e.flights reached 50,000 feet.
spacesuit) or partial-pressure (as used by air crew).World War II
Partial-pressure suits work by providing mechanicalIn the US, a large amount of effort was put into the
counter-pressure to assist breathing atdevelopment of pressure suits during World War II.
altitude.quinceanera"> tiarasAt altitudes greater thanWhile B.F. Goodrich led the field, other companies
20,000 feet, additional oxygen is required to supportinvolved in such research included the Arrowhead
life, while at 34,000 feet, 100% oxygen is necessaryRubber Co., Goodyear, and US Rubber. The
in order to equal the partial pressure of oxygen in theUniversity of Minnesota worked with Bell Aircraft and
sea level atmosphere. Above 40,000 feet, oxygenthe US National Bureau of Standards. The Bureau of
must be under positive pressure to maintain anStandards and the University of California acted as
equivalent altitude of 10,000 feet. At altitudes aboveclearing houses to distribute information to all the
50,000 feet a pressurized suit is required, while atcompanies involved. No effective fully mobile pressure
55,000 feet, the ambient atmospheric pressure is sosuits were produced in World War II but the effort
low that the body's water vapor expands until it boilsprovided a valuable basis for later development.
off. Above the "Armstrong Limit" (approx. 63,000David Clark Company
feet), water - and hence blood[citation needed] -Following the war, the Cold War caused continued
boils at the normal temperature of the human body,funding of aviation development, which included high
37 °C (99 °F) and the same protective equipmentaltitude, high speed research such as NACA's X-1.
is required as for vacuum conditions.James Henry of the University of Southern California
Historydevised a partial pressure suit using a gas mask to
Russiaprovide pressurised oxygen, with gas pressure also
In Russia, the first full pressure suit was designed byinflating rubber tubes called capstans to tighten the
engineer Evgeniy Chertanovskiy in Leningrad in 1931.suit and provide sufficient mechanical counterpressure
The CH-1 was a simple pressure-tight suit with ato just balance the breathing pressure necessary to
helmet which did not have joints, thus requiringprevent hypoxia at a particular altitude. The David
substantial force to move the arms and legs whenClark Company supplied technical support and
pressurised. This was remedied in later suits. Work onresources, and a prototype suit was tested to a
full pressure suits was carried out during 1936-41 bysimulated 90,000 feet at Wright Field in 1946. Henry's
the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI),design was subsequently developed by the David
with similar work being carried out by the GromovClark Company into the S-1 and T-1 flight suit used
Flight Research Institute (LII) after World War II.by X-1 pilots. The X-1 was succeeded by the Douglas
The LII produced four experimental full pressure suitsSkyrocket, whose objective was to exceed Mach 2,
for aircrews, and in 1959 began work on full pressureand an improved pressure suit was required. David
suits for spaceflight.[1] Chertanovskiy coined theClark won the contract in 1951 with their first full
name skafanders for full pressure suits from thepressure suit, the Model 4 Full Pressure Suit; it was
Greek words skaf - boat,ship and andros - man;first flown in 1953 by USMC aviator Marion E. Carl
skafander has since become the term used bywho became the first US military aviator to wear a
Russians to refer to standard diving dresses or spacefull pressure suit, at the same time setting an
suits.unofficial worlds altitude record in the Skyrocket.
Haldane-DavisGoodrich Mk III & IV
In 1931, American Mark Ridge became obsessed withUS requirements for high-altitude reconnaissance
breaking the world altitude record in an open gondolaaircraft such as the U-2, and fighters to intercept
balloon. Recognizing that the flight would requirehigh-altitude Soviet aircraft caused the US Navy to
specialised protective clothing, he visited the UK inbe tasked with the development of a full pressure
1933 where he met with Scottish physiologist Johnsuit in the 1950s. Working with B.F. Goodrich and
Scott Haldane, who had published a concept for aArrowhead Rubber, the USN produced a series of
fabric full pressure suit in the 1920s. The two soughtdesigns which culminated in the Goodrich Mk III and
the assistance of Robert Henry Davis of SiebeIV. While intended for aircraft use, the Mk IV was
Gorman, the inventor of the Davis Escape Set, andlater used by NASA with minor modifications for
with Haldane's and Davis' resources a prototype suitProject Mercury as the Navy Mark V. At the same
was constructed. Ridge tested it in a low-pressuretime, David Clark won the contract to produce suits
chamber to a simulated altitude of 50,000 feet.for the X-15 project; its XMC-2 suits qualified as the
However, he received no support for further workfirst US spacesuits.[3]
and never made his attempt on the world record. OnRAF
28 September 1936 Squadron Leader F.R.D. Swain ofThe RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine and the Royal
the Royal Air Force set the official world altitudeAircraft Establishment developed a partial-pressure
record at 49,967 feet in a Bristol Type 138 wearing ahelmet which was used with a capstan type suit
similar suit.[2]purchased from the US. It was worn by Walter Gibb
Wiley Postand his navigator to set a world altitude record on 29
In 1934, aviator Wiley Post, working with Russell S.August 1955 in an English Electric Canberra. However,
Colley of the B.F. Goodrich Company, produced theevaluation of the suit showed that it encumbered the
world's first practical pressure suit. The suit's bodywearer and did not integrate well with RAF escape
had three layers: long underwear, a rubber airsystems. Instead, the RAF IAM proposed a
pressure bladder, and an outer suit of rubberisedminimal-coverage suit which would provide
parachute fabric which was attached to a frame with"get-me-down" protection. The RAF never issued a
arm and leg joints that allowed Post to operatepartial-pressure suit, preferring instead to use anti-g
aircraft controls and to walk to and from the aircraft.trousers in conjunction with pressure jerkins (which
Attached to the frame were pigskin gloves, rubberapplied mechanical counter-pressure to the wearer's
boots, and an aluminium and plastic helmet with achest).