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Live like the first human on Mars! |
Return to Mars on Earth Experience Homepage Spacesuits |
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Pressure and Oxygen The Martian atmosphere is impossible to breathe
due to low pressure and essentially no free-oxygen (much less than 1% (0.14%)
compared to 20.9% on Earth). On Mars, oxygen must be supplied at a pressure
in excess of the Armstrong limit, i.e., the lowest pressure the human body
can tolerate before water boils at human body temperature (about 0.91 psi).
Earth atmospheric pressure at sea-level is 14.7 psi/1013 millibars. The average pressure on Mars is 0.088
psi/60 millibars). The highest pressure, at the
lowest elevation on Mars (the bottom of Hellas Basin) is 0.18 psi/12.4 millibars, This pressure varies as carbon dioxide (95.9%
of the atmosphere) is frozen out of the atmosphere and sublimated back
throughout the seasons. By further comparison, the pressure at the top of
Pike’s Peak (14,110 ft) is 8.6 psi and Mt.
Kilimanjaro (19,341 ft) is 6.94 psi (both of which
I have climbed without oxygen) and Mt. Everest (29,035 ft)
is 4.56 psi. |
(Front view) NASA
Z-2 Mars Suit
(Rear View) |
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Suit Designs In 2015, NASA unveiled the Z-2 spacesuit advanced
prototype (above) designed to explore another planet. The suit is not
intended to be worn during space walks or on board a spacecraft, but will be
used when humans reach Mars. The suit
has adjustable shoulders and waste to allow a range of crew members to fit
into just one suit. The Z-2 suit has a
rigid upper torso and is entered from the rear – note the rigid support stand
to facilitate entry. Many suits depicted in film are not full-pressure
suits and look nothing like the ones you have seen in “Mars” (National
Geographic, TV miniseries, 2016), Interstellar (Paramount/Warner Bros, 2014),
or “The Martian” (20th Century Fox, 2015) (below). Afterall, they had a multi-million dollar budget!
Even so, None of these suits were real but were really well-made costumes
designed for actors. Note how “form-fitting” the ones in Mars and The Martian
appear – not full-pressure suits but very sexy! That’s Hollywood! The one in Interstellar
is the closest to a full-pressure suit, but, arguably, not as sexy! |
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Interstellar |
The Martian |
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The suits below were developed by The Mars Society for
their Mars Desert Research Station (AKA the Mars Analog Research Station
(MARS) Project), according to their mission statement, “in order to help
develop key knowledge needed to prepare for human Mars exploration, and to
inspire the public by making sensuous [sic] the vision of human exploration
of Mars …”, |
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Mars Society
Desert Research Station |
As the Mars Society website further states, “it is one thing to walk around a factory test area in a new spacesuit prototype and show that a wearer can pick up a wrench – it is entirely another to subject that same suit to two months of real field work . . . From the moment they arrive at MDRS, crews enter a "living on Mars" simulation. Crew members must wear an analogue space suit simulator or a "sim suit" when completing tasks outside the Habitat (HAB) to simulate the protection they would need from the harsh Martian environment. “Complete analogue space suit simulators include a helmet, jumpsuit, boots, gaiters, gloves, an air supply pack, Platypus™ water pack, and a radio. Hand held radios mounted on the suits' helmets (with externally mounted push to talk switches) are used to communicate . . .” |
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Our Suits For your Mars-on-Earth-Experience, we
provide analog suits (i.e., simulated) and not full-pressure suits and look
nothing like those in “Mars”, “Interstellar”, or “The Martian” (above). Our suits are closer to the TV series “Men
Into Space” (ZIV Television Programs, CBS, 1960) (on the right). Admittedly, they are not full-pressure
suits but for a 12-year-old, they looked pretty cool! Our suits (on the right, below) are
polyester jump suits designed as costumes but very serviceable for your
Mars-On-Earth-Experience. The great
advantages of these suits are that they are easy to don and doff, highly
maneuverable, light-weight and cool, easy to clean, and they look good! We researched more “authentic, film
quality” commercial suits and even the rental cost would be too high to
integrate into the cost of your stay. The suit ensemble is in four pieces –
the jump suit, helmet, gloves, and boots, all with locking rings to integrate
them withy the suit. The gloves are sized to be
worn over bare hands or over winter gloves allowing flexibility to adapt to
the actual earth weather outside the suit. The boots are designed to be worn
over regular shoes. For EHA (Extra-Habitat Activity), you
will wear a back-pack containing an air-conditioning unit (essentially a fresh-air
blower to provide cooling), a water syphon container (bladder pack), and a
communication unit with connections to the suit. As the temperature on Earth
is not nearly as cold as on Mars (see About Mars),
staying warm on cold Earth days will be provided by
your own garments prior to donning the suit. No waste elimination is
provided, so you’ll have to plan ahead – or in an emergency, just unzip or
remove the suit (you’re still on Earth!) The suits will come with your own personalized
name tag with Velcro backing for you to remove and keep. The
Mars-on-Earth-Experience patch is permanently sewn to the suit, but you will
receive an identical patch as a souvenir of your “experience on Mars”! |
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References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_suit http://wonderworksweb.com/ftpfolder/Photo/page22.html |
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