CSA astronaut Chris Hadfield in the NBL - Part 2

Uploaded on March 16, 2011

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CSA astronaut Chris Hadfield in the NBL - Part 2

2011-03-16 - CSA astronaut Chris Hadfield prepares for a dip in the pool of NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab. Before taking the plunge, Chris shares some insights about his spacewalking suit. (Credit: Canadian Space Agency)

Chris Hadfield:

Good morning from the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. All of the gear that we're going to be wearing is over on the far side under the Canada flag. This pool is 15 metres deep, and it allows us to simulate weightlessness. And today I'm going to be under water for about five or six hours, practicing space walking, working with another astronaut, and reacquainting myself with the space walking suit.

So this is the EMU, the extravehicular mobility unit. It is different than the Russian Orlan. This one you climb in through the bottom and then build the suit around you. The Orlan, it's like getting into a little car or something. You open the back and slide yourself in, and pull the door shut behind you. This one has more mobility. The Orlan has a lot more simplicity for on-orbit ops.

[Off-microphone chatter]

They're not so good for this. The gloves are alright. But they're worse when they're pressurized. Right now I can manipulate this pretty well.

[Off-microphone chatter]

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