Watch Chris Hadfield explain more about the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, as he trains at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory near Houston, Texas.
Transcript
00:03
alright Chris Hadfield's here we're at
00:05
the neutral buoyancy lab this is the
00:07
underwater training facility where we've
00:10
learned how to do spacewalks and in a
00:13
few days I'm going to be underwater
00:15
practicing and teaching another
00:17
astronaut when the new astronauts one of
00:19
the David and Jeremy's classmates about
00:22
space walking practicing keeping my own
00:24
skills fresh here underwater in Houston
00:28
Texas at the neutral buoyancy lab we do
00:33
a lot of training of course before we
00:35
get in the water our tools are all laid
00:38
out for us to train with including
00:40
mock-ups of the Canada arm and all of
00:43
our various equipment that we need to
00:45
learn how to use to be able to
00:46
successfully walk in space all laid out
00:48
on tables when we go through them one by
00:51
one we have all the various joints that
00:54
the Canada and the crew may have to work
00:56
with replacing cameras in the foreground
00:59
are several of the big boxes that are on
01:01
the space station that so we might have
01:04
to change out as they break over time
01:06
onboard the space station
01:09
if the every feet in the portable foot
01:12
restraint and you want to turn you can
01:13
pick one foot out step on the OP head
01:15
and the whole articulating portable foot
01:18
restraint will turn and if you want to
01:21
roll in a different axis and then roll
01:24
it left and right but the tools we use
01:29
in space flow from extremely simple like
01:33
this wire tie that we just loop around
01:34
things and hold on the Russians had that
01:37
idea the wire tie very simple - pretty
01:41
straightforward like a ratchet where you
01:44
got to turn the ratchet it's got a
01:45
handle for you
01:47
nice socket ratchet set right through to
01:51
some pretty complicated tools that are
01:53
used for locking down the doors at a
01:55
space shuttle or similar equipment that
01:57
we use on the space station a lot of the
02:01
tools are made of metal trouble is when
02:03
you get in the water the metal is still
02:04
more dense than water so it pulls you to
02:06
the bottom of the pool so some of the
02:08
heavier tools like our big drill our big
02:10
pistol grip tool we make out of plastic
02:13
that way when you get in the pool it it
02:15
says the same density as the water it
02:16
doesn't float it doesn't sink and when
02:19
you really have to use a tool the divers
02:21
will just give you a high fidelity
02:23
working tool
02:24
and you could take off the plastic one
02:26
it's a compromise but it works for
02:28
simulation
02:50
hoses and clamps and connectors the
02:53
space station was cooled with ammonia it
02:56
has fluid connectors for water that has
02:59
fluid connectors for other gases
03:01
nitrogen and helium and so all of those
03:03
need to be trained for opening and
03:05
closing and connecting in orbit and this
03:08
is the simulator we have in order to
03:10
practice all of the techniques for
03:12
releasing and lifting and adjusting all
03:15
of the various parts of the space
03:17
station the big bales that will open and
03:19
close them to allow us to remove a
03:21
connector it's all different types and
03:25
this is where we learn to use them
03:31
EMU gloves these are the gloves that we
03:33
wear it to do a spacewalk hand goes up
03:36
inside all the various platters
03:42
Custom Fit sometimes we wear a liner
03:45
inside just to soak up the sweat
03:48
it's pressurized so we have this bar we
03:50
pull across the back really tight and
03:53
that squeezes on the glove so that it
03:56
doesn't balloon up when you're working
03:57
out in space water bag this goes inside
04:01
here's the drink spout up here that we
04:03
drink through and it gets carried inside
04:06
a little Kevlar bag inside so that we
04:09
have water to drink while Rogers live
04:10
for seven or eight hours it's important
04:14
to wear your helmet in space this is our
04:19
space walking helmet it's got visors
04:21
place for the head too even got a little
04:23
thing inside on this side to clear your
04:25
ears scratch your nose and I'll sell the
04:28
device it's a space walk and helmet
Transcript
00:02
Good morning from the Neutral Buoyancy Lab.
00:04
All of the gear that we're going to be wearing is over on the far side under the Canada flag.
00:07
This pool is 15 metres deep, and it allows us to simulate weightlessness.
00:12
And today I'm going to be under water for about five or six hours, practicing space walking,
00:16
working with another astronaut, and reacquainting myself with the space walking suit.
00:33
So this is the EMU, the extravehicular mobility unit. It is different than the Russian Orlan.
00:39
This one you climb in through the bottom and then build the suit around you.
00:43
The Orlan, it's like getting into a little car or something.
00:46
You open the back and slide yourself in, and pull the door shut behind you.
00:49
This one has more mobility. The Orlan has a lot more simplicity for on-orbit ops.
00:58
[Off-microphone chatter]
01:10
They're not so good for this.
01:13
The gloves are alright.
01:14
But they're worse when they're pressurized. Right now I can manipulate this pretty well.
01:19
[Off-microphone chatter]