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DUBAI: Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi is preparing to perform the first Arab spacewalk in the vacuum of space outside the International Space Station (ISS), walking on Earth in a 145kg spacesuit.
His historic spacewalk with NASA astronaut Steven Bowen is scheduled to begin at 5:15pm on Friday, April 28. Al Neyadi’s spacewalk will make the UAE the 10th country in the world to conduct a spacewalk, also known as an extravehicular activity (EVA) in space.
On Wednesday, Al Neyadi posted a video on Twitter explaining how he was preparing for the audacious mission, expected to last six and a half hours, in a vacuum.
“Many of you must be wondering how we prepare for a spacewalk. As we prepare for our mission on April 28, 2023, here’s a glimpse of our preparations from the airlock on the International Space Station ,” he posted.
Al Neyadi can be seen standing between two giant spacesuits or Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), billed as the world’s smallest spacecraft and the ultimate personal protective equipment (PPE).
Airlock preparation
In his opening remarks, he mentioned that he was speaking from an airlock inside the space station. The Quest Airlock is a pressurized chamber on the space station that serves as the main gateway for astronauts in American spacesuits to travel in and out of space.
Pointing to the airlock where the astronauts prepare for their spacewalk, he showed the room divided into two.
The airlock consists of two compartments joined end to end by connecting bulkheads and hatches. The first compartment is an “equipment lock” that provides a suit maintenance and refurbishment system. The second is the “crew lock,” which provides the actual exit to perform the spacewalk.
Al Neyadi then described the spacesuits that astronauts wear during spacewalks to perform tasks such as space station maintenance or installing new parts for the International Space Station.
tiny spaceship
“These spacesuits provide protection like tiny spacecraft because spacewalk missions can last about seven hours,” Al Neyadi said.
“The suit provides oxygen and protects against the high temperature of outer space. If exposed to sunlight, the temperature can reach as high as 120 degrees Celsius, while in the dark, the temperature can drop to about -150 degrees Celsius. The suit provides protection for both. protection,” he explained.
“It also contains devices to clean the air of carbon dioxide and provide the necessary communication equipment for spacewalks.”
Al Neyadi also provided a quick explanation of some parts of the EMU.
Pointing to the portable life support system that supplies the astronauts with breathable air and battery power for the suit’s electrical functions, he said the pouch-shaped rear contains oxygen, refrigeration, communications equipment and air purifiers.
“Because of the different sizes of astronauts, spacesuits come in three sizes, medium, large and extra large. One can further change the size of the arms and legs to fit them,” he explained.
“The top half of the suit contains the helmet, which is protected by a hard layer that looks like sunglasses. The suit also has sun visors on the left and right sides, and an additional sun visor to protect from harsh sunlight,” Al Neyadi added.
He ended talking about his spacewalk scheduled for Friday. “Please join us as we make history with the first Arab spacewalk,” he said as he concluded the video.
interesting fact
The EMU is actually made up of about a dozen components that have specific missions to help astronauts stay in the harsh environment of outer space for extended periods of time.
Its major components include the hard upper torso (HUT) assembly, primary life support system (PLSS) containing life support and electrical systems, arm assembly sections, gloves, Apollo-style “bubble” helmet with camera and lights, external A visor assembly (EVVA) and a soft lower torso assembly (LTA) consisting of a body seal closure (BSC), waist support, briefs, legs, boots and an adult size diaper known as a maximum absorbency garment (MAG).
The complex suit not only protects astronauts from the extreme conditions of space, it is itself a mobile life support system with an oxygen supply, electricity, water cooling, ventilation fans and a drink pouch inside the suit.
safety life jacket
A device called Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) is also installed on the EMU. It’s essentially a “life jacket” for spacewalks. SAFER is a self-contained maneuvering device that can be worn like a backpack. The system relies on small nitrogen-jet thrusters to move astronauts around in space. Astronauts must activate SAFER in an emergency because, unlike the space shuttle, the space station cannot maneuver to rescue the free-floating EVA crew.
The EMU design is modular, meaning it has individual parts that can be combined to suit each astronaut. The current suit is designed to fit women in the 5th percentile (5′ tall, 110 lbs) to men in the 95th percentile (6’2” tall, 223 lbs).
An ISS EMU with life support pack and SAFER weighs approximately 319 lbs (145 kg) on Earth and is pressurized to 4.3 psia (29.6 kPa).
Configure EMU
Meanwhile, NASA said Bowen and Al Neyadi spent much of Tuesday configuring their EMUs in preparation for the spacewalk.
“The pair also packed their spacewalk tools and inspected the tethers that secure the spacewalkers securely to the space station. In the afternoon, NASA flight engineers Woody Hoburg and Frank Rubio joined the pair for a briefing with mission control on the ground.” The two spacewalkers will spend about six and a half hours in the vacuum of space, continuing to upgrade the station’s power generation system,” NASA added.
Their spacewalk was called US Spacewalk 86. This will be the first experience for rookie astronaut Al Neyadi, while Bowen will perform his eighth spacewalk.
Bowen will be known as EV-1 in the red-striped EMU, while Al Neyadi will be known as EV-2 in the unmarked all-white EMU.
The astronaut duo will retrieve the S-band antenna equipment capable of communicating with Earth and bring it to the space station for refurbishment.
They will carry out a series of preparations related to the planned solar array installation EVA later in the mission. This prepares cables for future installation of upgraded solar panels on the starboard side of the space station truss. The pair will also look at foot restraints that are distributed across different parts of the station’s exterior.
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