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AX-Series

USA

Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.

American space suit, tested 1964-68. Between 1964 and 1968 two hard suit assemblies were developed at NASA-ARC, identified as the AX-1 (Ames Experimental) and AX-2. These suits were the first to demonstrate multiple bearing technology.

The AX-3 was an 0.5 bar suit, 23 kg, 0.5 to 0.7 bar operational pressure, with improved mobility and was completed in 1977. The program culminated in the development of the prototype AX-5, an all hard suit for high pressure application and zero prebreathe in the 1980's. The AX-5 shared common design goals with the ILC Mark III. For example, they had to be easy to get into and out of, be comfortable to wear, and allow adequate mobility and range of motion for the jobs to be performed. Both were designed to be altered to fit different size astronauts

Subtopics

  • AX-5 American space suit, tested 1985. The AX-5 high pressure, zero prebreathe hard suit was developed at NASA Ames Research Center in the 1980s. It achieved mobility through a constant volume, using a hard metal/composite rigid exoskeleton design.
Country
USA
Agency
NASA Ames
Bibliography
487