Rockets, Missiles, and Spacecraft of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian InstitutionMurphy, Lynne C.
History
Rockets, Missiles, and Spacecraft of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Murphy, Lynne C.
Astronautics -- United States -- Exhibitions; National Air and Space Museum
The bio-belt assembly, worn over the liquid-cooling garment, contains
preamplifiers for sensors placed next to the skin. The sensors acquired
electrical signals which determined respiration rate and
electrocardiograms of the astronauts. The preamplifiers relayed the
signals to the spacecraft telemetry system for transmission to Earth.
The urine collection and transfer assembly provided for emergency
containment of liquid waste when spacecraft facilities were not
available. Liquid waste was subsequently transferred from the collection
assembly to the spacecraft waste-management system.
The portable life-support system (PLSS) created and maintained a livable
atmosphere inside an astronaut’s space suit during activity on the lunar
surface. Worn as a backpack, the PLSS could be used for as long as four
hours at a time.
The PLSS supplied oxygen for breathing purposes, suit pressurization,
and ventilation. It also removed contaminants from oxygen circulating
through the suit and supplied water and oxygen for body cooling.
Conversion of exhaled carbon dioxide into oxygen was accomplished
through a lithium-hydroxide cartridge also contained in the PLSS. An
emergency supply of oxygen was contained in the oxygen purge system
mounted on top of the PLSS.
When fully charged, the pack weighs 38 kilograms (84 pounds) on Earth or
6.3 kilograms (14 pounds) on the Moon.
The space suit on exhibit is from the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
V-2 (A-4)
[Illustration: 61. British-supervised postwar launch of V-2 in
Germany.]
[Illustration: 62. V-2.]
The German V-2, originally designated A-4, represents the beginning of
modern rocketry. The V-2 was the first proof that large rockets of the
sort described by the space-flight pioneers of the early twentieth
century could be successfully built and flown. It was also the
forerunner of the intercontinental ballistic missile system.
Developed by a team of engineers working under the direction of Dr.
Wernher von Braun at Peenemunde, Germany, the V-2 work laid the
foundation for the Redstone missile through the Saturn series of space
launch vehicles.
Four-thousand V-2s were fired against Allied targets in England and on
the continent in 1944 and 1945. After World War II, captured V-2 rockets
were used to train American technicians in missile launch procedures and
to carry the first payloads of scientific instruments into the upper
atmosphere in the United States.
The operational V-2 rocket structure consisted of three sections. The
nose housed the warhead and control mechanisms. The fuel tanks carried
liquid oxygen and alcohol propellants. The rocket engine, turbopumps,
and control surfaces were contained in the tail section.
Jet deflector vanes positioned in the stream of exhaust gases and
external vanes maintained attitude and directional control during the
powered portion of flight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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