|
 Education
Home
Page
 Higher
Education
Elementary &
Secondary
Education
Informal
Education
Feedback
Table of
Contents
NASA
Education
Home
Page
|
 |
|
| Home
> Education > Careers - Life Support |
 |
 |
Aerospace Careers: Life Support Equipment Branch
|
 |
| Helmet and mask assembly. |
The safety of flight crews is a primary concern in aeronautical research, where aircraft are being pushed
to design limits to meet NASA's quest for knowledge.
At NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, members of the Life Support Equipment Branch carry out
tasks every day that are critical to the safety of flight crews. As part of the Life Support Group, the branch is
an essential part of crew safety and plays a part in every aircraft operation at the center. The branch takes care
of the personal equipment (helmets, oxygen masks, flight clothing, G-suits, parachutes, and other survival items)
used by all pilots and aircraft crewmembers to create a safe flying environment and help them survive in
an emergency situation.
When a NASA pilot suits up for a research flight, the Life Support Equipment
Branch is involved with nearly every article of clothing and flight equipment.
The branch issues and maintains the items, and when necessary repairs or replaces
them. The branch also helps develop and test new items of flight crew equipment.
Flight Helmets and Oxygen Masks |
| Aircrew member with helmet and mask (left). Custom fitting a helmet (right). |
Flight helmets fill several roles for NASA aircraft crewmembers. Helmets connect
the oxygen mask to the pilots, protect them from noise, and provide protection
for their heads in case of ground impact. Each helmet contains padded earphones
that are linked to the aircraft's radio system. Microphones are built into the
crewmembers' oxygen masks, which fasten to the helmets, completing the communications
circuit.
Along with providing voice communications, oxygen masks give each aircrew member
his or her own supply of oxygen to breathe when the aircraft flies at high altitudes,
where the air is thinner and contains less oxygen than on the ground. The mask
receives oxygen through a strong flexible hose connected to an on-board pressurized
oxygen tank and flow regulator system. NASA regulations require every person
flying in unpressurized aircraft above 10,000 feet or at night to use oxygen,
so properly working masks are necessary on most flights at Dryden.
Two special visors are also built into helmets and can be lowered over the eyes individually. One is a
clear visor that provides eye protection during emergency situations; the other is tinted and used just like
sunglasses. The tinted visor also provides the same measure of eye protection as the clear visor during
emergencies.
Helmets are custom-fitted to each crewmember. During the fitting process, a
thick plastic liner that slides into the helmet shell is softened with heat
and placed on the individual's head. As the liner cools, it conforms to the
shape of the person's head for a permanent custom fit. A properly fitted helmet
assures comfort and safety during all flight regimes.
All helmets at Dryden are carefully checked by branch personnel every 30 days. They are cleaned and
inspected to make sure they are 100% serviceable before the helmet is reassembled. Visors are checked
for perfect visibility and replaced if they have been scratched.
Oxygen masks are disassembled, inspected, cleaned, and disinfected every month. Microphones are given
a communications check and the reassembled mask is tested for proper oxygen flow before it goes back to
the pilot's locker.
Branch personnel also inspect and
maintain the aircraft oxygen system.
Flight Clothing
Flight clothing issued and maintained by the Life Support Equipment Branch begins with the one-piece
flight suits on which names and colorful project patches are usually sewn. The suits are made of a
fire-retardant material as an added measure of safety.
For additional comfort in cold weather, flight crews can wear long-legged and long-sleeved
undergarments supplied by the branch. These items are made of 100% fire-resistant cotton. If a crewmember chooses to
wear his or her own undergarments, they too must be made of 100% cotton or fire-retardant material.
Flight boots and gloves, also made of fire-retardant materials, round out the list of clothing items used in
routine NASA flight operations.
Each article of clothing is inspected for serviceability by the wearer before
each flight. Flight clothing is always laundered separately to keep it free
of flammable fibers.
 |
 |
| Flight suit, torso harness, and G-suit. |
Anti-G Garments (G-Suits)
The G-suit is one of the most important articles of flight equipment used in high performance aircraft
everywhere. This is the term for suits which help prevent pilots and crewmembers from losing consciousness,
or "blacking out," when their aircraft maneuvers and exceeds the force of gravity by several times or more.
A G-suit resembles a pair of cowboy chaparejos (chaps) and fits snugly around
the lower abdomen and legs. It contains air pockets sewn into the multi-layered
fabric. A small hose leads from the garment to an air regulator system in the
cockpit. During flight, the air regulator system inflates the G-suit when the
force of two Gs (twice that of gravity) or more is reached. The inflated G-suit
tightens around the person's lower body and legs to prevent the fast flow of
blood from the head and upper body into the lower body, which causes partial
or full "blackouts." Once the G force passes, the G-suit deflates
and remains in a neutral condition until pressure is needed again.
Modern aircraft such as the F-16 and F-16XL, both of which are flown at Dryden
for research and support missions, can exert up to nine Gs nine times the force
of gravity on pilots and crewmembers. Under these conditions, humans need a
device like the G-suit to remain conscious and in control of their aircraft.
Life support equipment experts at Dryden inspect and test each G-suit once every 120 days. They look for
signs of fabric wear and make sure the hook-up and lacing systems fasten properly. During the inspection
process, each garment is inflated and must maintain 5 pounds of pressure for at least one minute or it is replaced.
 |
| SR-71 pressure suit |
SR-71 Full Pressure Suits
Pilots and crewmembers who fly in NASA SR-71 aircraft at Dryden wear flight suits that are much like
astronaut spacesuits. Called full pressure suits, they provide an individual, self-contained "capsule" of air
pressure and oxygen to breathe because the SR-71 cockpits are not pressurized to low-altitude conditions.
Full pressure suits apply a low-altitude pressure on the body so that normal breathing and blood flow
can continue at very high altitudes. The air pressure and oxygen are furnished from systems on board the aircraft.
The suits, with their integrated helmet systems, are maintained by the U.S. Air Force physiological support personnel at Edwards
AFB, while the aircraft life support systems are maintained by NASA's Life Support
Equipment Branch personnel.
Parachute Systems
|
| Parachute harness assembly. |
Parachutes and parachute torso harnesses are perhaps the most imp ortant
items on the list of life support equipment for NASA flight crewmembers.
They are rarely needed, but must perform properly when called upon.
Parachutes for all of the F-15, F-16, and F-18 aircraft flown at Dryden are installed in the ejection seat
and remain in the aircraft. Pilots and crewmembers wear adjustable harnesses which are attached to the
ejection seat once they are in the aircraft. If a pilot or crew-member must leave the aircraft in an emergency, the
ejection seat system propels him or her away from the aircraft and the parachute deployment system unfurls the
28-foot diameter parachute automatically. These parachute systems are inspected monthly to make sure all the
components are serviceable. Once each year the parachutes are unpacked, aired out, and carefully repacked after
a close inspection. Parachutes used by NASA and military forces are packed and folded by licensed
parachute riggers only.
Pilots and crewmembers of other aircraft at Dryden, such as the NASA B-52, strap into parachutes that
are prepositioned in the aircraft. This type of parachute is unpacked, aired out, and repacked by a licensed
parachute rigger every 180 days.
Harnesses and parachutes receive a close visual inspection by branch staff
every 30 days.
Survival Kit
Each type of ejection seat system comes with a survival kit. Among the items
the kits contain are a fixed-frequency radio, whistle, mirror, flares, matches,
survival blanket, raft repair plugs, compass, first aid kit, knife, snakebite
kit, food rations and water, and a locator beacon to alert search and rescue
units. The kits are inspected every 180 days and dated items are restocked when
necessary. Part of the individual survival package is a small, inflatable, one-person
life raft, which is also inspected, inflated, and repacked every six months.
 |
|
| Survival kit with components and water survival training. |
Survival Training
The Life Support Equipment Branch conducts emergency and survival training for everyone who flies in
an aircraft at Dryden.
The schooling covers the proper use and care of flight clothing and equipment; how to safely hook up to
the aircraft systems; cockpit familiarization; emergency ground egress; how to eject from an aircraft;
parachuting and landing techniques; water survival; survival first aid; and survival techniques using the items in the survival kit. All crewmembers, including pilots, receive survival training every six months. Crewmembers
who are not experienced in survival skills receive the training every 30 days until a satisfactory level of
proficiency is achieved. Survival training for NASA flight crews also includes bi-annual water survival training.
This training is conducted at Lake Isabella, near Kernville, CA, northwest of Edwards AFB. While in the
water, crewmembers learn how to free themselves from parachutes and other equipment, inflate and get into rafts,
and how to be extracted safely from the water by helicopter crews and other rescue personnel.
|
| Viper helmet |
Test and Development Work
The Life Support Group in past years has helped test and evaluate new items of flight equipment, or
modifications to existing items.
The Life Support Group evaluated a flight helmet for the Department of Defense. It featured an internal
system to project onto the visor the Heads-Up Display (HUD) symbology normally displayed in front of the pilot on
the cockpit console. HUD symbology includes aircraft speed, altitude, and attitude references, and also
tactical targeting information if the aircraft has a weapons system.
The Dryden Life Support Group evaluated the helmet's compatibility with aircraft
ejection systems and pilot comfort.
Experience
Most NASA life support equipment personnel received their formal training and experience in one of the
military services. This training includes knowledge of the various items of flight equipment and clothing, and
also expertise in survival training and human physiology as it pertains to the respiratory system.
The life support equipment field is so specialized that few aerospace companies offer on-the-job or
entrance-type training for young men or women seeking this line of work.
Math and general science, plus physiology, are subjects that would aid anyone seeking entrance into or
already working in the life support field.
Document Number: IS-97/08-DFRC-04
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
