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Collection:
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NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Collection
Collection
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Collection
Collection
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Name of Image:
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Neutral Buoyancy Simulator Test - Scientific Airlock
Name_of_Image
Neutral Buoyancy Simulator Test - Scientific Airlock
Name of Image
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Full Description:
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Once the United States' space program had progressed from Earth's orbit into outerspace, the prospect of building and maintaining a permanent presence in space was realized. To accomplish this feat, NASA launched a temporary workstation, Skylab, to discover the effects of low gravity and weightlessness on the human body, and also to develop tools and equipment that would be needed in the future to build and maintain a more permanent space station. The structures, techniques, and work schedules had to be carefully designed to fit this unique construction site. The components had to be lightweight for transport into orbit, yet durable. The station also had to be made with removable parts for easy servicing and repairs by astronauts. All of the tools necessary for service and repairs had to be designed for easy manipulation by a suited astronaut. Construction methods had to be efficient due to the limited time the astronauts could remain outside their controlled environment. In lieu of all the specific needs for this project, an environment on Earth had to be developed that could simulate a low gravity atmosphere. A Neutral Buoyancy Simulator (NBS) was constructed by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in 1968. Since then, NASA scientists have used this facility to understand how humans work best in low gravity and also provide information about the different kinds of structures that can be built. With the help of the NBS, building a space station became more of a reality. Pictured is Astronaut Paul Weitz training on a mock-up of Spacelab's airlock-hatch cover. Training was also done on the use of foot restraints which had recently been developed to help astronauts maintain their positions during space walks rather than having their feet float out from underneath them while they tried to perform maintenance and repair operations. Every aspect of every space mission was researched and demonstrated in the NBS. Using the airlock hatch cover and foot restraints were just a small example of the preparation that went into each mission.
Full_Description
Once the United States' space program had progressed from Earth's orbit into outerspace, the prospect of building and maintaining a permanent presence in space was realized. To accomplish this feat, NASA launched a temporary workstation, Skylab, to discover the effects of low gravity and weightlessness on the human body, and also to develop tools and equipment that would be needed in the future to build and maintain a more permanent space station. The structures, techniques, and work schedules had to be carefully designed to fit this unique construction site. The components had to be lightweight for transport into orbit, yet durable. The station also had to be made with removable parts for easy servicing and repairs by astronauts. All of the tools necessary for service and repairs had to be designed for easy manipulation by a suited astronaut. Construction methods had to be efficient due to the limited time the astronauts could remain outside their controlled environment. In lieu of all the specific needs for this project, an environment on Earth had to be developed that could simulate a low gravity atmosphere. A Neutral Buoyancy Simulator (NBS) was constructed by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in 1968. Since then, NASA scientists have used this facility to understand how humans work best in low gravity and also provide information about the different kinds of structures that can be built. With the help of the NBS, building a space station became more of a reality. Pictured is Astronaut Paul Weitz training on a mock-up of Spacelab's airlock-hatch cover. Training was also done on the use of foot restraints which had recently been developed to help astronauts maintain their positions during space walks rather than having their feet float out from underneath them while they tried to perform maintenance and repair operations. Every aspect of every space mission was researched and demonstrated in the NBS. Using the airlock hatch cover and foot restraints were just a small example of the preparation that went into each mission.
Full Description
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Date of Image:
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1977-10-13
Date_of_Image
1977-10-13
Date of Image
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Category:
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Spacelab
Category
Spacelab
Category
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term:
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Neutral Buoyancy Simulator
Keywords
Neutral Buoyancy Simulator
term
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term:
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NBS
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term:
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Weitz
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term:
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Scientific Airlock
Keywords
Scientific Airlock
term
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facet_who:
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Paul Weitz
facet_who
Paul Weitz
facet_who
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facet_what:
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Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Skylab
facet_what
Skylab
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
facet_where
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
facet_where
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facet_where:
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United States of America
facet_where
United States of America
facet_where
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facet_when:
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1968
facet_when
1968
facet_when
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facet_when_year:
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1968
facet_when_year
1968
facet_when_year
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Reference Number:
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MSFC-75-SA-4105-2C
Reference_Number
MSFC-75-SA-4105-2C
Reference Number
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MIX #:
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7884601
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NIX #:
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MSFC-7884601
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MSFC Negative Number:
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7884601
MSFC_Negative_Number
7884601
MSFC Negative Number
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UID:
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SPD-MARSH-7884601
UID
SPD-MARSH-7884601
UID
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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