Walking in Space

David J. Shayler

• 03 juni 2004
• 9781852337100

Samenvatting:

In Walking in Space: Development of Space Walking Techniques, David Shayler provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of EVA techniques, available for the first time in a readable form - other than NASA publications.

On 18 March 1965, just four years after Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space Alexei Leonov left his Voskhod 2 spacecraft and became the first person to perform a space walk. It was on 20 July 1969 that Neil Armstrong took his giant leap for mankind onto the surface of the moon. Then on 7 February 1984 Bruce McCandless became the first human satellite as he flew an untethered manned manoeuvring unit, 300 feet from the shuttle. Five months later on 25 July 1984 Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space. All this was accomplished in less than 20 years.

Two decades later space walking had become an integral part of space operations and will continue be in the forefront of future manned spaceflight activity. We still await the 13th person to step on the moon and the first person to place their footprint on the red plains of Mars. But what does it take to prepare for and conduct a period of activity outside the spacecraft?

In Walking in Space David Shayler explores the development of space walking techniques and support hardware. In a comprehensive but highly readerable review the author draws upon original documentation, personal interviews and official post flight reports revealing the very personal experience of exploring space and the development of training techniques devised in the gravity environment of Earth for work in the vacuum of space, on the moon and eventually on Mars.

In Walking in Space: Development of Space Walking Techniques, David Shayler provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of EVA techniques, available for the first time in a readable form - other than NASA publications. The author draws on original documentation, personal interviews of astronauts with experience of EVAs, and accounts by those involved in suit design, EVA planning and operations. Moving on from the pioneering of EVA techniques during the Gemini programme, the author describes the basic requirements in terms of the equipment that every spacewalker needs, the development of training techniques - currently all completed on Earth - the surface explorations of the Moon by the Apollo astronauts and the numerous activities performed by Shuttle astronauts and those aboard the Salyut and Mir Space Stations, such as satellite servicing, equipment upgrading and repair missions. He also describes the development of techniques for ensuring crew safety during EVAs and looks ahead to future EVAs from the International Space Station and the development of new technology, including robotic assistance.