A Unique Experiment Set to Take Place in Earth’s Orbit: Transforming Old Spacesuits into Useful Satellites
 |
The old Orlon suit manufactured by Russia has been transformed into the SuitSat satellite (Photo: VNN) |
On February 3, 2006, two astronauts will conduct routine maintenance outside the International Space Station (ISS) and retrieve some experiment trays from the exterior.
However, afterward, astronaut Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams will push a distorted, empty spacesuit into space.
In fact, this Orlon suit has been modified to function as a rudimentary radio satellite and has been renamed SuitSat. Frank Bauer from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center stated: “Some Russian scientists involved in the ISS program had this idea: to turn old spacesuits into useful satellites.”
This suit, manufactured in Russia, is no longer in use on the ISS. Now, it will provide some valuable information before bidding farewell to the world…
SuitSat is equipped with a radio transmitter and an electronic control unit. Additionally, there is an antenna attached externally. As it orbits the Earth at thousands of kilometers per hour, SuitSat will transmit data about its condition back to Earth.
This way, scientists can monitor whether the suit is overheating, how long the battery lasts, how the drag changes, and more. SuitSat will gradually descend to Earth and disintegrate in the atmosphere over the following weeks. Its trajectory can be tracked using radar.
SuitSat also broadcasts an audio recording to greet those on Earth. This radio signal will be transmitted for about 30 seconds on FM frequency 145.990 MHz, once every minute. The message content includes: “This is SuitSat-1, RS0RS,” followed by greetings in English, French, Japanese, Russian, German, and Spanish.
Moreover, SuitSat transmits a static TV image, although NASA has not yet revealed the content of the image.
This project primarily aims to attract public interest in NASA’s human spaceflight program. Nevertheless, it could provide some useful information. For instance, understanding how drag changes could help NASA devise a way to rescue an astronaut drifting away from the ISS during a spacewalk.
Minh Sơn (According to NewScientist)
