Lunar Surface Journal - Part 2 - Sealing the Suits

Author: CaptainNemo
Title: Lunar Surface Journal - Part 2 - Sealing the Suits
Date: 12 May 2013

117:45:47 Dennis: Houston, we are now both suited and booted. We are going to don our PLSS backpacks.

117:46:09 Houston: Okay, proceed with left-hand column of checklist 2-5.

117:46:28 Dennis: Roger. Aaron is the first one.

[Getting the heavy Personal Life Support System (PLSS) backpack on is very difficult. It is a two-man operation. The PLSSs are strapped to the side walls, at working height, and the astronaut has to back up against his, and his mate will then unhook the PLSS from the wall and help him to get it strapped to his back. The LM is so small that it is a very difficult operation, even in soft (unpressurized) suits.]

117:51:18 Dennis: All the PLSS snaphooks are locked into the brackets on your suit, Aaron.

117:51:40 Aaron: Okay.

117:53:11 Dennis: PLSS is unhooked from the wall, you may now move your body again.

117:54:21 Aaron: I feel like a young backpacker on a trip across Europe.

117:54:26 Dennis: You will soon be a young backpacker on a trip across lunar boulders.

117:54:45 Aaron: Could there be anything more exciting?

117:54:55 Dennis: Take care of your PLSS hoses.

117:55:30 Aaron: Okay … blue hose connector … locked… now red hose connector … locked… cooling water tube connector locked…

[Aaron connects his backpack’s oxygen and water supply hoses to the blue, red and gray coded connectors on his suit chest. A number of distintive metallic clicks is audible when Aaron locks the connectors.]

117:59:10 Dennis: Love the sight and the sound of your neat big hands, turning those locks. Now run through PLSS connector safety check.

117:59:32 Aaron: The lock-locks are (garbled) checked. Locks are checked, blue locks are checked, lock-locks, red locks, purge locks; and on this side, the PLSS locks and lock-locks, both sides; water locks (pause) and the Comm. Man, that feels good!

118:01:10 Dennis: You sound so lucky, Dude. Ready for RCU mounting?

118:01:19 Aaron: Yeah.

[They are near the top of the right-hand column of page 2-6. The Remote Control Unit (RCU) is snaphook-mounted on Aarons suit chest and connected to the PLSS. For the astronaut, the RCU provides some important space suit controls. The top surface of the RCU has an oxygen quantity gauge, a digital display and a variety of warning flags. Communications switches are located on the bottom and the temperature knob which controls the flow water through the Liquid-Cooled Garment is on the left side. Once outside the LM, Dennis and Aaron can mount their 70 mm digital cameras on brackets attached to the front of the RCUs.]

118:10:09 Dennis: Checkout RCU functions as per checklist 2-6.

118:10:18 Aaron: Okay.

(Pause)

118:19:06 Dennis: Now it’s my turn for donning the PLSS, at last!

[They are getting Dennis’ PLSS and RCU on.]

118:40:13 Dennis: Houston, we are both through PLSS and RCU donning. We will now check our com caps.

118:40:25 Houston: Okay, proceed, guys.

[The astronauts have to perform some final checks and adjustments to their “Snoopy Caps” before being sealed in their helmets. They each have a pair of mikes as part of the Snoopy Cap or, more formally, the "Communications Cap", which also contains a pair of redundant headphones.]

118:40:49 Dennis: Lean forward. Com cap connector? … Locked. (Pause) Re-Position your mikes.

118:41:28 Aaron: Sure wished I'd shaved last night.

118:41:45 Dennis: You look so great, Dude. Boy next door, unshaven, in a space suit wearing Snoopy cap, backpack and moonboots. Got your mikes where you want them?

118:42:07 Aaron: Yeah. Thank god that my mother is far away.

118:42:18 Dennis: Shall I tighten your chin strap?

118:42:25 Aaron: Yeah.

[Medical Sensor data show Aaron’s heart rate and blood pressure dramatically increasing while Dennis gently adjusts Aaron’s chin strap with his still ungloved hands.]

118:43:49 Dennis: Love that scratching of your unshaven chin under my fingers. Okay; we need the helmets.

118:44:12 Houston: Before it is too late on your helmets there, the suit people just want to make sure that you put that anti-fogging stuff in there (as per checklist page 2-7).

118:44:17 Dennis: We'll do it.

118:44:56 Houston: Okay.
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[Comm Break. They are in the middle of the right-hand column of Surface 2-8. Because they will soon don their helmets, they can now get the helmet storage bag out of the way. It is a mesh bag with two compartments and is used to keep the helmets out of the way during in-cabin operations. An anti-fogging agent is wiped on the inside of the bubble helmets prior to each EVA. The helmet assembly consists of the clear, but rugged bubble helmet which is an integral part of the pressure suit, with a padded head rest inside at the back. Mounted on the outside, there is a lunar sun visor assembly, and an outer, white-colored, thermal protection layer.]

118:47:12 Aaron: Uhh…

118:47:17 Dennis: What’s up?

118:47:28 Aaron: Working on my pressure helmet makes me so tingly. I just lost some drops of juice into my UCD condom…that wet rubber feels much more stimulating now. I will have to calm down when you put me the helmet on.

118:48:02 Dennis: Shut up, I want to spare my cum until we are on the surface. I’m as hard as hell!

118:48:11 Aaron: Okay. Good to have you as a Commander (giggling).

(Pause)

[End of Comm Break]
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118:52:03 Dennis: Houston, we are getting ready to put our helmets and gloves on and pressurize our suits.

118:52:14 Houston: Okay. You are now on Surface Checklist 2-9 “Helmet / Glove donning.”

118:52:37 Dennis: Okay. Before we turn the PLSS fans on, let's make sure we've got those cables all stowed. They're not in your way, are they?

118:52:45 Aaron: No, not in my way.

118:52:47 Dennis: Pretty good.

118:52:58 Houston: Apollo 22, Over.

118:53:00 LM Crew: (Garbled)

118:53:03 Dennis: Go ahead, Houston.

118:53:05 Houston: Roger. We're still seeing the commander's Suit Disconnect valve's in Connect. (Pause)

[Houston has noticed that the valve setting is incorrect. There is some telemetry from the ECS but very little from the suits: water and oxygen quantities and water temperature, only.]

118:53:14 Aaron: (Responding to Houston after changing Dennis' Suit Isolation Valve) How's that? (Pause)

118:53:17 Houston: Yep, there it goes. We got it. Thank you.

118:53:22 Dennis: Okay, Houston. (Pause) (To Aaron) Okay. We got to get the PLSS fan on. Don't forget that's on PLSS battery power. (Reading) We can don our helmets, check our drink bags, check our protective visors down, secure our tool harness. (Pause) Our O2 umbilicals are already stowed. CDR's under the handhold. Verify the following. Now, where we pick up our...

(Pause)

118:53:54 Aaron: Have to put the helmets on, I think.

118:53:56 Dennis: Okay, yep. Then we pick up our gloves.

118:53:58 Aaron: I reckon.

118:54:00 Dennis: Yep, there it is. Okay. Well, let's do one at a time here.

118:54:05 Aaron: That's mine.

118:54:10 Dennis: Everything okay now for your helmet? You will be locked inside for at least eight hours.

118:54:25 Aaron: Man, couldn’t imagine a better place.

[Note that, in the following, they get Aaron into his helmet first, as per checklist 2-9. The communication between the astronauts now relies on the intercom system.]

118:54:39 Dennis: Get down in your neckring. Here comes your helmet.

118:54:45 Aaron: Okay.

[Dennis lowers the helmet over his fellow astronaut’s head. There is a solid, audible click as Aaron’s helmet locks into place on the neckring of his suit, creating an airtight connection.]

118:55:30 Aaron: Mmm. That sounded good. (garbled)

118:55:34 Dennis: Helmet is locked.

118:55:45 Aaron: Verify PLSS (comm) mode select in AR.

118:56:01 Dennis: Verified. (Pause)

118:56:09 Aaron: All right. The vent flag is clear.

[Aaron’s PLSS fan is already running to re-circulate the flow of oxygen through the suit. A clear vent flag indicates that the flow is adequate. In the event of inadequate flow, a "P" would appear in the display, indicating that the astronaut should activate his spare oxygen system and open his Purge Valve.]

118:56:15 Dennis: Verify EVA visor is up and attached to helmet. (Long Pause)

[The EVA visors are designed to cut down on the solar glare - visors which can be raised and lowered.]

118:58:12 Aaron: How's the Comm now, Houston? Over.

118:58:16 Houston: Aaron, this is Houston. The Comm is very good. You are coming in loud and clear.

118:58:27 Aaron: Very well, thank you. (Long Pause)

[They will now get Dennis into his helmet.]

119:01:43 Dennis (Garbled): locked?

119:01:46 Aaron: Yeah, it’s locked and aligned.

119:01:53 Dennis: Okay. I feel excellent.

[Comm Break. They have finished with Dennis’ helmet and Aaron has confirmed that Dennis’ helmet neckring is properly seated, aligned, and locked. Next, they will don their gloves as the final step in the EVA preparation. The EVA gloves used for working on the moon are a more rugged, reinforced version of the black pressure gloves worn inside the spacecraft. Like the latter, they are based on a rugged rubber pressure bladder, firmly enclosing the astronaut’s hand, but fingers and palms are reinforced with a Kevlar mesh and woven steel. They also feature an outer white-colored thermal insulation layer.]

119:02:24 Dennis: Okay. "Don EVA gloves".

119:02:29 Aaron: That's it. "Don EVA gloves." Doing a little greasing in here.

[Aaron uses lubricants on both the wrist rings and on his hands to protect them from abrasion. Here, he is probably greasing one of his hands. Dennis uses nylon glove liners in an effort to protect his hands, and to avoid the intense rubbery smell on his hands. Note that Aaron and Dennis have taken care of all of the circuit breakers and switches prior to donning the bulky gloves.]

119:02:41 Aaron: I got mine...You want me to help you with one, or can you get it?

119:02:04 Dennis: Well, I don't know. I've only worked on one so far.

119:02:08 Aaron: I've got a free hand before I grease it up.

[Aaron: "I'd gotten one of my gloves on at this point, so this was my last chance to help Dennis with an ungloved hand."]

(Pause, interrupted by the audible clicking of the metal wrist seal locks)

119:03:32 Dennis: Have you verified yours are locked?

119:03:44 Aaron (garbled): Yes. Wrist locks left and right and lock-locks … check.

119:03:45 Dennis: Okay. Both my gloves are verified locked. (Pause) How does that grab you?

119:03:54 Aaron: Okay; feels fantastic.

119:04:08 Dennis: We are now completely sealed in our suits. Our EVA clock is running now!

119:04:13 Aaron: Yeah. That’s so exciting.

[Aaron’s Memories: “The counting of EVA time always starts when the astronaut is fully sealed. Our suits began to inflate at that moment. Being inside the Lunar Module at that point, it was so hard to move around. With two guys in pressurized suits and both wearing PLSSs, it is almost impossible to move. Additionally, I was really handicapped by my huge erection. (…) I could look directly into Dennis’ unshaven face inside his helmet. He was really my man at that time, with his blue eyes, his boyish face and his blond hair color, his three-day-beard even turning into something slightly reddish. I could have kissed him at that point. Seeing him fully suited next to me really put me on the edge of shooting my load. I was in a mixture of extreme excitement and very hard self-control. On the one hand, I was fulfilling my boyhood dream, finally being an astronaut, sitting there in my multimillion dollar space suit, together with my favorite team mate, only some minutes away from my first moonwalk. On the other hand, I had to calm myself down and keep my discipline as a junior member of the government’s space program."]
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