posted 02-01-2006 07:43 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by carmelo:
...Now i present pictures of these suits:The first is the ISSA suit (1973),it seems similar at the Russian "Sokol".The second is "EIS" suit (1975),an intravehicular version of EMU spacesuit....

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ILC's ISSA suit (Carmello's first picture) may resemble the Sokol-K suit, developed from the Sokol high-altitude aviation suit in the early 1970s (after the Soyuz-11 tragedy), but it also resembles the David Clark Co. G5C soft suit worn on Gemini-7, developed in 1965. Reference to the excellent book, "Russian Space Suits" by Abramov and Skoog, shows that the Soviet Union had a long history of pressure suits with soft helmets, predecessors to the Sokol-K. I would be surprised to learn that the G5C was "inspired" by such Soviet suits, given the Soviet penchant for secrecy.

Note that the EIS "IVA" suit in Carmello's second picture is being modelled in the seat of ILC's lunar rover mockup, a decidely non-IVA setting. Clearly the intention of the photo was to demonstrate the flexibility of the EIS suit, not to suggest any EVA application.