Space Tourist Spacesuits

Christopher M. Jones wrote:
Henry Spencer wrote:
In article ,
Earl Colby Pottinger wrote:

Mass also is an issue. A hundred-kilogram suit is fine for LEO...
...less than optimal for Lunar operations, and not at all for Mars, what
with that pesky "gravity" pulling at it.

But that is only 33 Kilos in wieght. That does not seem to be an
unreasonable wieght for a healthy adult to carry about. Yes, lighter would
better, but 100 Kilos mass should not be a show stopper.

33 kilos is one hell of a lot to carry for prolonged activity, even before
you figure in the added complications like stiff joints. This *is* a show
stopper for major surface operations.

It's incredibly borderline, at the least. On the one hand
there are folks who traipse around uneven ground for hours
a day with that much weight strapped on their backs. On
the other hand, those folks tend to fall in a very, very
narrow band of individuals in peak physical condition.

Most people moving over uneven ground tend to prefer to carry
around somewhere around 20 kgs, and pay quite a bit extra to
be able to carry around less than they would otherwise.

And that's not good for a variety of reasons. The folks
who have the education and experience (scientists, test
pilots, etc.) to be the best professional astronauts tend to
be older and past their peak physical condition. The same
applies to the folks who tend to have the money to buy
multi-million dollar trips to Mars.

However, if you look at the various factors, it doesn't
necessarily look too far out of the question to use 100 kg
suits on Mars. Factor in body mass and then figure the
total weight, adjusting for Martian gravity, and you end up
very near the body weight on Earth. With a good support
system that puts the weight on the hips and doesn't overly
unbalance the walker, it might just be feasible for
otherwise ordinary individuals in merely good physical
condition to work productively on Mars.

A 100kg suit will have secondary effects you are not thinking
of that still apply even in reduced (or no) gravity like
momentum. 100kg suits are most probably always a bad idea, except
possibly if they come with powered exoskleton or similar.

And then you might just as well make light, single use suites that
last a limited time - and have people simply always drive around in
a car.

--
Sander

+++ Out of cheese error +++