In article ,
h (Rand Simberg) wrote:

The best solution to the [bends] would be a mobile, high-pressure
suit, but NASA's never developed one.

I've been thinking a lot about space suits lately. I'm starting to
wonder if they're not a good approach for orbital EVA-type work.

Has anyone considered instead a small mobile pod instead? I'm picturing
a hard shell slightly larger than a man, which the pilot/user
flies/wears around for assembly, maintenance, and perhaps even
sight-seeing tasks. It would have jointed arms & hands which the user
can stick his hands into to manipulate things, but when he doesn't need
to do that, he can withdraw his arms into the pod.

Possible advantages:

1. It could easily be made to withstand high internal pressure, so no
prebreathing is needed.

2. The user has a bit more freedom and comfort -- when you get an itch,
pretty much anywhere, you can scratch it, and internal controls (such as
for flying the thing, dispensing food/water, or taking a leak) can be
easily operated.

3. Probably less failure-prone, not that a spacesuit has ever failed as
far as I'm aware.

Disadvantages:

1. If you really need your legs for something, you're pretty much SOL --
I don't know how often this actually comes up on orbit.

2. If operated at a higher pressure, you still have the stiff-glove
problem that plagues other space suits.

One possible solution for #2 would be to have a pair of robotic waldoes,
perhaps on the other side of the pod, which can be used for some tasks
in place of gloves. But then, if the task could be done from a pod with
waldoes, it could probably be done via teleoperation.

But maybe we call that an advantage -- these pods could be operated
either by a wearer/pilot, or a remote pilot.

Anyway, this is off the top of my head, but it seems worth exploring,
don't you think? Any reactions?

Best,
- Joe

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