Heavenly Breezes

In a 1593 letter to Galileo, German astronomer Johannes Kepler wrote,


"Provide ships or sails adapted to the heavenly breezes, and there will be some who will not fear even that void."


What is a void? What is a terror? There are some, of course; while others, we manufacture. One real terror, a place where humanity is hard-pressed to survive, is Cape Horn, the southern tip of South America, if you are in a sailboat. Sailing legends Robin Knox-Johnson and Bernard Moitissier describe it here; and above, 16-year old Jessica Watson is seen in her sailboat, just rounding the Cape, in a video frame from her recent solo sailing circumnavigation of the Earth. Yes -- there will be some who will not fear even that void!

Boilerhouse Valves


"Wendell Moore, Rocket Installations Engineer at Bell Aircraft, the man responsible for fitting the engine into the [first rocket airplane in the late 1940's] X1, shakes his head today when he recalls some of the early problems.

"We had valves in that plane that were boilerhouse valves, old brake valves--anything we could fix up in a hurry. To save time, we'd use standard castings and then design our special fittings to match the size. When we got through, we had a big fantastic piece of junk that you'd suspect might belong on a tractor. But we made it work."


From Mallan, L. 1955. Men, Rockets and Space Rats. New York, Messner.

Above, a photo of the X1 purging hydrogen peroxide fuel after a landing. After the 'bracing' experience of flying such a craft faster than the speed of sound, test pilot Chuck Yaeger said "I couldn't talk for two days."

Suitup

After installing a new hose, on rather a whim I decided to put the suit on, for the first time in some months; the fit is decent, but too tight in some places, making for some diabolically detailed seaming on my part in the next few evenings. Putting the suit on, and taking it off, alone, is challenging; it's very tight. But, once a few pounds of pressure have been pumped into it, that will expand the suit somewhat, taking the load off my calves and a few other places. Is sweated a lot putting it on and taking it off, reminding me to sew a sweat-absorbing headband into the helmet liner (not seen here). I also must treat the inside of the helmet visor with an anti-fog treatment; if the visor fogs, and that fog freezes at high altitude, I'll be blind! There is a helmet-visor warming coil built into the visor--just like the defog wires in a car rear window, but I'm still working out the power requirement (the helmet is Russian! I have a manual, but need to get it translated). All in all, a good exercise!

Breathing Gas System Test

Though I'm still waiting for one hose, I fixed my valve problem and today carried out a full-pressure test of the breathing gas delivery system; breathing gas comes from the silver tank, where it flows out at 150PSI, to a pressure regulator that steps the pressure down to 10PSI, which is then routed by the red hose into the high-altitude breathing gas regulator (the large, cylindrical unit at the bottom of the blac, vertical instrument panel). From here, depending on altitude, the regulator delivers either am mix of ambient gas (air) and the pressurized supply, or 100% breathing gas from the cylinder; one can set the mix with a control knob. Later, I'll put the pressure regulator into an airtight box that can be pumped down to pressures simulating high altitude, but for the moment the test went well, though there are of course new issues to deal with; the step-down pressure controller is a little fiddly, and needs a better control knob, and the instrument panel certainly needs a powerful light so I can see the displays.

A good day! Now to make the last adjustments to the pressure suit itself, when the last hose arrives, and gear up for the full test at the end of the month!

Valve

Working with a new pressure-regulating valve...but I've got something wrong, it seems, and this is not working as expected! Well that is a learning opportunity (if you see the glass as half-full) or a failure (if you see the glass as half-empty. To me, it's a learning opportunity.

Detail Work

Splicing together some tubing for the liquid cooling tubes that will circulate a cool fluid through my inner garments; I'm using a self-vulcanizing rubber tape to make the seals, which turn out to be watertight and very durable. Waiting for two valves and a hose to come in the mail; when they do, and they're all installed....I think it will be time for the full pressure test!

Testbed

Last night I built the testbed, a framework that supports the breathing / suit gas pressurization tank and the instrument panel; it's on wheels, so it can be moved easily, and the hoses are long enough to conveniently reach the suit ports. The suit has just one or two small adjustments to make before the end-of-August full test. That will be an exciting day!