"Since its earliest days, flight has been about pushing the limits of technology and, in many cases, pushing the limits of human endurance. The human body can be the limiting factor in the design of aircraft and spacecraft. Humans cannot survive unaided at high altitudes. There have been a number of books written on the subject of spacesuits, but the literature on the high-altitude pressure suits is lacking. This volume provides a high-level summary of the technological development and operational use of partial- and full-pressure suits, from the earliest models to the current high altitude, full-pressure suits used for modern aviation, as well as those that were used for launch and entry on the Space Shuttle. The goal of this work is to provide a resource on the technology for suits designed to keep humans alive at the edge of space."--NTRS Web site.

The definitive story of pressure suits began long ago and has involved a great many people who aided in perfecting the present state of the art, as this book well chronicles. Many of these people were visionaries who anticipated the need for such highly specialized equipment long before it could actually be employed in any practical application. A remarkable number of pressure suit designs were developed early on, the vast majority of which never made it into flight, amounting to little more than science projects. Nonetheless, these early “experiments” informed later work, which led to practical pressure suits when they were needed for high altitude flight. All successful pressure suit designs have been the result of efforts to address a specific need in a specific application, beginning with Wiley Post’s pressure suit designed for use in his Lockheed Vega, the Winnie Mae. Long considered the granddaddy of modern pressure suits, Post’s suit was employed principally for protection from hypoxia rather than decompression sickness, since his Lockheed Vega’s altitude ceiling was 50,000 feet. The first operational full-pressure suit employed (in the D-558-2 Douglas Sky-Rocket) for flight above 50,000 feet was also the result of a collaboration between suit designers and pilot (Scott Crossfield). This close collaboration continued on for the development of the landmark full pressure suit for the X-15 program. The X-15 suit first employed link-net material, originally conceived for the neck section of early U-2 pilots. Helmets aid pressurized mobility, for the entire restraint layer of the suit. This unique material greatly facilitated custom suit fitting and enhanced pilot comfort and remains in use to the present. Thus, the X-15 suit is really the granddaddy of modern-day pressure suits as it led directly to the standardized military full-pressure suits that followed and continue to be used in service to the present. Further, the X-15’s high performance required that the pressure suit be capable of withstanding exposure to extreme altitudes, temperatures, and high-Q ejections, thus setting the stage to satisfy similar requirements for later programs, namely the A-12, SR-71, XB-70 and Space Shuttle.

Encompassing all occupants of aircraft and spacecraft—passengers and crew, military and civilian—Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine, 5th Edition, addresses all medical and public health issues involved in this unique medical specialty. Comprehensive coverage includes everything from human physiology under flight conditions to the impact of the aviation industry on public health, from an increasingly mobile global populace to numerous clinical specialty considerations, including a variety of common diseases and risks emanating from the aerospace environment. This text is an invaluable reference for all students and practitioners who engage in aeromedical clinical practice, engineering, education, research, mission planning, population health, and operational support.

Every year more than 30 million tonnes of bituminous mixtures are laid in the UK in the course of maintenance and improvements of the road network. However, much of the technology associated with road construction and maintenance has never been published - until now. Bituminous mixtures in road construction has been published as the definitive guide to blacktop and addresses the theoretical and practical aspects of the design, manufacture and laying of bituminous mixtures. Written by a team of leading experts, the book provides up-to-the-minute thinking in materials specification, test methods and harmonisation of standards and covers all aspects of fully flexible road construction from foundation design through to surface treatment. In one handy volume, Bituminous mixtures in road construction presents the best of British expertise and will prove to be an essential guide for all engineers working on the construction and maintenance of highways.

From the earliest aviation pressure suit pioneers to today's plans for space suits for the planned manned asteroid retrieval mission, this unique ebook compilation will be of great interest to aviation and space enthusiasts. It includes a reproduction of a major NASA History Special Publication, Dressing For Altitude: U.S. Aviation Pressure Suits - Wiley Post to Space Shuttle. Anybody who has watched many movies or television shows has seen them--the ubiquitous silver suits worn by pilots as they explore the unknown. They are called pressure suits, and one can trace their lineage to Wiley Post or, perhaps, a bit earlier. There are two kinds of pressure suits: partial pressure and full pressure. In a partial-pressure suit, the counter-pressure is not as complete as in a full-pressure suit, but it is placed so that shifts in body fluids are kept within reasonable limits. On the other hand, a full-pressure suit, which is an anthropomorphic pressure vessel, creates an artificial environment for the pilot. One type of pressure suit is not necessarily "better" than the other, and both partial pressure and full pressure suits are still in limited use around the world. Both type of suits have benefits and limitations and, by and large, pilots dislike both, even while acknowledging their necessity. For the past 60 years, they have been an indispensible part of a small fragment of the aviation world. Although space suits, which differ from pressure suits in subtle, but important ways, have been well covered in literature, pressure suits have gone unheralded except as introductions to the space suit histories. This book is an attempt to correct that, and covers pressure suits from the beginning through the end of the Space Shuttle program.Contents: Horror Vacui * Structure of Atmosphere * Atmospheric Pressure * Physiological Issues of High-Altitude Flight * Mark Ridge, Wiley Post, and John Kearby * Early Pressure Suits * Wiley Post and the Winnie Mae * International Efforts * Aeromedical Pioneers * U.S. Army Rediscovers the Pressure Suit * Summary * Acceleration Protection * Physiology of Acceleration * Human Centrifuges * Beginning of an Idea * Australian Cotton Aerodynamic Anti-G Suit * Canadian Franks Flying Suit * Americans * Berger Brothers * Worcester Connection * Cutaway Suits * Postwar Suits * TLSS and COMBAT EDGE * ATAGS and F-22 * Rediscovering Progressive Arterial Occlusion Suit * Partial-Pressure Suits * Pressure Breathing * S-1: Genesis of the Partial-Pressure Suit * S-2 and T-1: Production Partial-Pressure Suits * MC-1: Featherweight Suit * MB-1 and MB-2: Ill-Fated Air Defense Command Suits * MC-3 and MC-4: Dragon Ladies and Hustlers * MC-3A Specials: Manhigh, Excelsior, and Stargazer * CSU-2/P: Attempt to Improve the MC-4 * C-1A and C-4: Navy Capstan Suits * CSU-4/P and CSU-5/P: Bladders Only * HAPS-NASA Dryden High-Altitude Protective System * Navy Full-Pressure Suits * Russell Colley, Again * Mark I * Mark II * Mark III * Mark IV * Mark IV Suits for Strato-Lab * Mark V * Project Mercury Spacesuits * Air Force Full-Pressure Suits * Lines of Nonextension * MC-2: A New Beginning * A/P22S-2: Production USAF Full-Pressure Suits * Sidebar: The Evolving Pressure Suit Depot * A/P22S-3: A Navy Suit for the Air Force * A/P22S-4 and A/P22S-6: Evolving the Concept Boyle's Law Suit * PHAFO: The Stillborn High-Altitude Flying Outfit * Special Project Suits * S901 and S970:Suits for Oxcart * S-100: Hybrid Suit for the Original U-2 * S901J: Initial Suit for Senior Crown * S1010: A Suit for Dragon Lady * S1031C: Common Suit * S1034: Improved Common Suit * Shrinking Industrial Base * Space Shuttle Pressure Suits * ISSA and EIS: Stillborn Space Shuttle Suits * S1030A: Ejection Escape System...