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Click through to see the evolution of NASA’s space suits
Mercury space suit
Years active: 1959 through early 1970s
Click through to see the evolution of NASA’s space suits
Mercury space suit
Years active: 1959 through early 1970s
Mercury space suit
Years active: 1959 through early 1970s
Mercury space suit
Years active: 1959 through early 1970s
Gemini space suits
Years active: 1960s
Gemini space suits
Years active: 1960s
Gemini space suits
Gemini space suits
Gemini space suits
Gemini space suits
Apollo space suits
Years active: 1968-1975
Apollo space suits
Years active: 1968-1975
Apollo space suits
Years active: 1968-1975
Apollo space suits
Years active: 1968-1975
Apollo space suits
Years active: 1968-1975
Apollo space suits
Years active: 1968-1975
Apollo space suits
Years active: 1968-1975
Apollo space suits
Years active: 1968-1975
Skylab space suits
Years active: early 1970s
Skylab space suits
Years active: early 1970s
Skylab space suits
Years active: early 1970s
Skylab space suits
Years active: early 1970s
Space Shuttle ejection escape suit
Years active: 1981-1982
Space Shuttle ejection escape suit
Years active: 1981-1982
Launch Entry Suit
Years active: 1988-1994
Launch Entry Suit
Years active: 1988-1994
Launch Entry Suit
Years active: 1988-1994
Launch Entry Suit
Years active: 1988-1994
Advanced Crew Escape Suit
Years active: 1990s
Advanced Crew Escape Suit
Years active: 1990s
Advanced Crew Escape Suit
Years active: 1990s
Advanced Crew Escape Suit
Years active: 1990s
Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Years active: 1982- present
Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Years active: 1982- present
Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Years active: 1982- present
Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Years active: 1982- present
Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Years active: 1982- present
Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Years active: 1982- present
DEL RIO — An Air Force flight surgeon here is helping astronauts go where they’ve never gone before — cracking a problem that has vexed NASA since Mercury astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. famously wet his pressure suit prior to becoming the first American in space.
Dr. (Col.) Thatcher “Thomas” Cardon, working in a spare room of his house on Laughlin Air Force Base, developed a way to let America’s high flyers relieve themselves with no muss and no fuss: an adaptable hygiene spacesuit system that cleans up after itself.
Responding to NASA’s Space Poop Challenge, he brainstormed a solution in around a half hour, then put the system together using $200 worth of materials he bought at dollar and hardware stores. NASA announced Wednesday that he had won a $15,000 cash prize, beating out 20,000 people who collaborated on 5,100 entries submitted to the contest.
“It all seems pretty simple to me. I’m just amazed that nobody came up with it,” Cardon, a family practice physician who calls Seattle home, told the San Antonio Express-News. “I wish I had been there to invent quantum theory and not space poop handling methods, but I guess I’ll take the minor achievement.”
Go to ExpressNews.com later today or read Thursday’s Express-News for the whole story.
sigc@express-news.net
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