XPost: misc.misc
From: henry@spsystems.net
In article <1107393299.086905.102170@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
wrote:
>> ...you're going to need hundreds of tons of [gas]...
>
>What volume are you considering?
For any big unobstructed volume at any breathable pressure, gas mass is
going to be serious. Air at 1atm weighs about 1.25kg/m^3 -- rather more
than people think.
>And I didn't say a pressure suit would
>be unnecessary, I think the *space* suit would be unnecessary. In
>between the shells, the workers would probably need something like a
>flight suit pressure suit, but not the full bulk of the space suit.
Unfortunately, the big problem of working in spacesuits is the stiffness
resulting from suit pressurization. Getting rid of the outer
thermal/micrometeorite protection would help only a little.
I'm not sure what you mean by "flight suit pressure suit", but note that
the suits worn (for example) for shuttle ascent are *emergency* suits,
which get their lighter weight and greater *unpressurized* flexibility
partly by accepting that they will be uncomfortable and very difficult to
work in when pressurized.
>Does anybody know what the specs for such a pressure suit, that would
>deal comfortably with, oh, 1/100 of an atmosphere would be?
It would have to be essentially a full spacesuit.
>...4,188 cubic meters of air at Denver air
>pressure, oh, half stp, or so...
Uh, no, sorry, Denver pressure is much higher than that. Even if we make
it Quito instead -- nearly twice as high as Denver -- air pressure and
density are still about 75% of sea level. (And if you're doing physical
work at that pressure, you'll want higher than normal oxygen content, as
anyone who has been to Quito will tell you...)
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert | henry@spsystems.net
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