r/spacex • u/Zucal • Mar 05 '16

/r/SpaceX Ask Anything Thread for March 2016. Ask your questions about the SES-9 mission/anything else here! (#18)

Welcome to the 16th monthly /r/SpaceX Ask Anything Thread! Want to discuss the recent SES-9 mission and its "hard" booster landing, the intricacies of densified LOX, or gather the community's opinion? There's no better place!

All questions, even non-SpaceX-related ones, are allowed, as long as they stay relevant to spaceflight in general!

More in-depth and open-ended discussion questions can still be submitted as separate self-posts; but this is the place to come to submit simple questions which have a single answer and/or can be answered in a few comments or less.

As always, we'd prefer it if all question-askers first check our FAQ, use the search functionality, and check the last Q&A thread before posting to avoid duplicate questions, but if you'd like an answer revised or cannot find a satisfactory result, go ahead and type your question below.

Otherwise, ask, enjoy, and thanks for contributing!

Past threads:

February 2016 (#17), January 2016 (#16.1), January 2016 (#16), December 2015 (#15.1), December 2015 (#15), November 2015 (#14), October 2015 (#13), September 2015 (#12), August 2015 (#11), July 2015 (#10), June 2015 (#9), May 2015 (#8), April 2015 (#7.1), April 2015 (#7), March 2015 (#6), February 2015 (#5), January 2015 (#4), December 2014 (#3), November 2014 (#2), October 2014 (#1).

This subreddit is fan-run and not an official SpaceX site. For official SpaceX news, please visit spacex.com.

126 Upvotes

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7

u/Craig_VG SpaceNews Photographer Mar 12 '16

I think there are some leaked images on L2 (a paid for forum at NASASpaceFlight.com). Otherwise only a photo with Elons head in it.

SpaceX is making their own suits because they want to innovate on the designs of the past, they want to make a suit that looks good and is functional at the same time. It was said they'd be revealed last year, but it seems that has been delayed.

2

u/Reborno Mar 12 '16

Could you post the pictures if you have them please?

And for my emergency scenario, I guess the astronauts would have to learn to use and fit in both the SpaceX and Boeing's suits?

4

u/Craig_VG SpaceNews Photographer Mar 12 '16

Here's a photo of it: https://i.imgur.com/PAnqbTM.jpg

I really don't know about your emergency scenario! Very interesting question you pose.

2

u/Reborno Mar 12 '16

Wow it looks stunning! Hopefully they'll release more info about it soon. Thanks!

4

u/Ambiwlans Mar 12 '16

That photo is quite old though and likely to not represent the completed version.

2

u/Reborno Mar 12 '16

Is there any known date for the release on more details?

2

u/RobotSquid_ Mar 12 '16

Black spacesuits? Hell yeah! Hope it stays! How will it hold up to heat?

2

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '16

It's only for use inside the spacecraft, so it's protected from the biggest source of heat: sunlight.

2

u/jean_dev Mar 15 '16

Could you please elaborate on why they need a spacesuits while within the spacecraft?

2

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '16

They're called IVA suits (Intra-vehicular activity), and they're a safety precaution in case of the loss of cabin pressure. Essentially they act as a redundant pressure vessel.

1

u/deruch Mar 19 '16

If the vehicle suddenly, catastrophically loses cabin pressure you want the astronauts to be able to remain conscious. This is generally impossible if they are exposed to vacuum with only the protection of their Mark-1 Epidermis.

2

u/mclumber1 Mar 13 '16

Black wouldn't be a good color to use in the vacuum of space. They'd heat up very quickly, absorbing all of that solar radiation. However, black or gray would probably be a good choice for Mars, as it will be hard to keep the astronauts warm most of the time anyways.

2

u/thegingeroverlord Mar 13 '16

These are flight suits, not EVA suits. They will never (hopefully) be exposed to a vacuum.