Space Suit

Textiles are usually garments, not clothes?

Almost all of us who study textile engineering have faced this question at some point in our lives.
In fact, the textile thing can never be confined to a specific subject; it is a concept. So its practical side is also far-reaching. Apart from garments, technical textiles include several important sectors including home textiles, space textiles, construction - building and rooftop, medical textiles, geotextiles.

One of the most interesting topics in the above textile-based sectors is space textiles.
Let's talk about space textiles today-

Space textiles or space textiles are basically technical textiles.
Since the beginning of human spaceflight, the US SPACE PROGRAM has been in a lot of trouble with astronaut clothing.

First it comes up with the characteristics of clothing while inside the spacecraft, then it comes up with the variety of clothing outside the spacecraft. This time-honored mission to conquer space has repeatedly proved that the weather and climatic conditions of each planet are different.

So different costume arrangements have to be implemented for each planet. For example, Mercury is located very close to the Sun, so the temperature of this planet is much higher than normal. And because the heat is high, the pressure is a little higher than normal.

So the garment system arranged for Mercury must include the ability to withstand much higher stress and heat tolerance.
For Neptune, the farthest planet from the Sun, on the other hand, clothing with the same characteristics would certainly not be of much use.

Astronauts often encounter complex environments while traveling in space where in addition to cosmic effects, there are also harmful effects such as radiation. So successful and the only recourse space suite.

Space Suite: This is a complex system that is specially designed to give astronauts comfort even in the harsh environment of outer space.

Clothing that is usually made by Space Textile has the following characteristics -
1. Light in weight
. Flexibility
3.
4 as strong as metal . Easily changeable in size and shape
5. Thermal insulation and heat resistant

Characteristics in terms of firmness-
1. UV stability
II. Stability to friction

Aerospace textile is a special branch of space textile.
They are famous for the particular type of spacesuit created whether the characteristics as follows:
1. High-quality specific modulus
2. High-quality specific energy
3. Standard elasticity
4. Low combustion
5. Relatively high dimensional stability

All international space research centers, including NASA, have consistently hired a number of textile engineers, doing space shoot, nanofiber, carbon shield fiber manufacturing, and continuous research.
In the case of Aerospace Textile, various components are used as raw materials. Notable among them is

carbon fiber: This fiber is made of almost 100% carbon. It is best known for its tensile strength. This fiber with a diameter of 0.00002-0.0004 meters is made by the cracking process of crude oil. This fiber is also known as graphite by some.

Features:
1. High Strength
2. Heat resistant
3. Resistant to chemical effects

Usage: 1. Used as heat resistant material.
2. Used to make special components for space rockets.
3. Used as raw material for spacesuit design.

Kevlar narrow Fabrics: This is a heat resistant synthetic fiber. Maintaining the performance and durability of clothing, in general, is a difficult task for aerospace textiles, and Kevlar narrow fabrics have become known as solutions. Usage
:
Usually used to repair small parts of aircraft.

Silicon carbide fiber: It is used in Aerospace Textile as an alternative to carbon fiber. The tensile strenth of this fiber is 400 kg / mm2. Basically, high heat tolerance has made this fiber well known. It can withstand heat up to about 1500 ° Celsius.

Nylon fiber: Nylon 6.8 made of adipic acid and hexamethylene deacon. It is widely used in space textiles as heat resistant and abrasion-resistant.

Some of the international industries working with space textiles are:
1.
Airbus 2. Boeing, USA
3. Lockhead Mastin, USA
4. United technologist, USA
5. Raytheon, USA

The advancement of space and space textiles is essentially a messenger of blessings and prosperity for the present textiles. Every new step taken by the existing space textile is opening the door of new possibilities for the textile industry.
At present, it is this type of textile that transcends the traditional boundaries of textile and spreads the textile triumph, and changes the concept of textile.


REFERENCES:
1. advance_textile_source.com
II. indiaantextilejournal.com
3. textileengineers.org
4. technicaltextile.com
5. home.quicknet.nl/


Milon Banik
Department of Apparel Engineering, 45th Batch
Bangladesh Textile University (BUTEX)