Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-08-07
GEMINI
'Stir-Croziness' Not q Problem
To Spocemen Living in Capsule
Continued From Page Al

fast for a few days?
Or what about your ability
to keep at least tolerably clean
to brush teeth, wash, shave?
Or the more personal functions
of your body-how would you
take care of them? And what
would you eat. and when, and
how? And how would the air
inside be kept fresh and pure?
Where would your drinking wa
ter come from?
Questions such as these
point up one thing about man.
in-Space. 1t is quite true that
a 175-pound man can do far
more work than his weight in
instruments. 1t is equally true
that it takes many times his
weight in supplies to support
a 175-pound man for any ap-
preciable period in space.
Couch" Is Simpler
To take the problems at ran
dom, let's consider the pilots
chair, or seat, or couch-what-
ever you wish to call it. The
requirements for Gemini are
actually simpler than for Mer-
curry. A rigid, closely form-fit-
ting couch will not be needed,
because Mercury's high-G loads
of declaration on landing are
not expected in Gemini. So the
seat can be-and will be
more like an airplane pilots
seat, although before takeoff
the crewmen will be lying on
their backs in these seats with
their feet elevated.
Hospital patients frequently
get bed sores from the friction
CT bedsheets against their skin.
This is not anticipated in space
flight. In the weightless state,
the back, the buttocks, arms
and thighs-the pressure points
will not be held against the
seat with the usual force Of
one G that makes for diScom-
fort on earth.
Suit Partly Removable
But the spaceman will not
be comfortable. by any means.
For one thing, he will not be
wearing comfortable clothes.
The best the planners have
been able to come up with
so far is a space suit with re-
movable arms and legs and a
non-rigid, partly removable
helmet. From the biceps to the
knees, however. the spaceman
will be permanently encaSed in
his $4,000 silver suit.
Exercise is not expected to
be much of a problem, al
though some sort of fitness
regimen will be necessary. 1t
is known that Charles Atlas"
type tension devices-springs.
grippers, elastic cords and the
like-can give a man a mild
workout even in weightleSSneSS
by pitting one set of muscles
against another.
Personal Problems Solved
Problems Of personal clean
illness are turning out to be
less overwhelming than had
been feared. Normal tooth
brushing. for instance. could be
extremely messy in orbit, but
with a disposable, one-time
toothbrush worn" on the in
deX finger. and with special
dentrifice that can be swal-
lowed, the astronaut will be
able to keep his mouth clean
without difficulty.
BathS-even sponge baths
will be impossible, of course.
but if a man is clean to start
with and stays in a clean en-
vironment, he can exist for two
weeks without undue anguish.
1t is granted he will be some
what gamy at the end.
Hand and face washing will
be done with little moist
ened disposable towels such as
are in common use today. They
will not contain volatile, per-
fumed substances. however. be-
cause these would place an I'M
necessary load on the air puri-
flying system.
Shaving in the weightless
state calls for an electric
shaver with a little vacuum
cleaner attachment so the as
tronauts will not have a cabin
full of whiskers.
Mercury was not much help
in devising a bodily waste dis
posal system for Gemini, nor
will the answers to Gemini'S
problems be much help in Prof.
ect Apollo. The Mercury
flights short duration enabled
designers to skip the problem
of solid wastes by keeping the
astronaut on low-residue diets
for several days before the
flight.
For Apollo. on the other
hand, fairly elaborate plumb
ing" is planned. In Gemini,
wastes will be stored in special
containers.
Sweat and moisture from
breathing will be scrubbed"
out of the cabins aid supply.
Edible Food Wrapper
The diet for Gemini is still
being worked on, but present
indications are that the food.
if not Lucullan, will be out of
the K-ration class. A varied