NASA's Mark III Spacesuit
Although heavier than earlier suit designs (59 kilograms / 130 pounds for the suit and an additional 15 kilograms / 33 pounds for the Portable Life Support System), the Mark III's selling point is its superior mobility. By combining soft suit joints, hard joints, and bearings, expected lunar or Martian surface mobility tasks can be performed within acceptable levels of effort. For instance, the task of kneeling and picking up an object would not be possible with the Apollo A7L or Shuttle EMU suits. With the Mark III (in lower gravity, of course) astronauts could perform handstands or somersaults in the suit. Credit: Credit: NASA |
