[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 6 - 09:30:27 ]
Today's chat will be moderated to help Ron keep up with our questions. This means we will post a few questions in the chat room at a time. So DON'T WORRY if you don't see your questions immediately. We will post new questions for Ron every few minutes.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 7 - 09:31:18 ]
At the conclusion of today's chat, please visit our NASA QuestChat Information Center at http://quest.nasa.gov/qchats and send us your feedback. We look forward to hearing from you today!

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 8 - 09:59:59 ]
Hello and welcome to today's NASA Quest Space Team Online/Classroom Today chat with Ron Woods from NASA Kennedy Space Center.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 9 - 10:00:16 ]
Ron Woods works with a team that finalizes all space suits and maintains the launch/entry suits (the orange space suits) that the astronauts use. They also prepare any equipment that the astronauts will use for the duration of their mission.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 10 - 10:00:36 ]
And now, here is Ron Woods to answer your questions.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 15 - 10:09:52 ]
RE: [Paulo] Mr.Woods...you say in your profile that the spacesuits pass strict security checks after the end of their production...How many checkpoints are there since the end of the making process,and are those checkpoints focused in several parts of the suit at a time, or they are all general checkpoints?
Paulo, Space suits pass strict inspection points during the manufacturing process and during pre-flight processing. All suit components are checked many times before they are allowed to be used in chamber runs or for flight. They're are not set amount. It all depends on what type of processing we are doing.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 18 - 10:11:08 ]
RE: [MrsReger/CrestonMiddleSchool] Dear Ron Wood,Are suits still made by normal people?
Suit components are made by ILC Industries, Hamilton Standard and Air Lock Corp. by experts in their field.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 22 - 10:14:32 ]
RE: [Randall] Mr. Woods, How long have you been working on spacesuits? What kinds of changes have you seen in "spacesuit technology"?
I've been working with or handling space suits since 1967. The most economical change made was that we went from custom made suits for each crew member during the Apollo program to the recycled suits of the shuttle program. With the addition of new materials we have a longer life to the space suit components.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 23 - 10:16:49 ]
RE: [Amanda] Is your job hard?
A constant education with regards to new technology is required to maintain proficiency with the amount of hardware that we handle for the flight crews.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 25 - 10:20:37 ]
RE: [GailMrsReger/CrestonMiddleSchool] dear Ron Wood, What do the uniforms have on the inside?
The pressure retention parts of the suit are made of urethane with nylon backing and dacron outer layer for support. The outer protective (TMG) is gortex material.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 28 - 10:23:24 ]
RE: [GailMrsReger/CrestonMiddleSchool] Dear Ron Woods, Do you like making suits?
I've always enjoyed working on space suits because of the technical challenge. Some people work on the space craft called the shuttle and I've always worked on the space craft called the space suit.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 31 - 10:26:56 ]
RE: [Ellen8/MrsReger/CrestonMiddleSchool] Dear Mr. Ron Woods, What is the average time period needed to make a space suit? How many layers are in the orange space suit?
The layers consist of gortex bladder, restraint linknet material and nomex cover layer. Also remember the crew member is wearing a liquid cooling garment which also gives thermal protection in cold conditions. Extravehicular activity suit is probably two months and the orange suit is one month in the making.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 32 - 10:28:06 ]
RE: [Jennifer] Mr. Woods, your painting in your biography Web page looks so realistic! What medium do you mostly work in, and what did you paint before you got involved with the Space Program?
The medium for most of my paintings now is watercolors and prior to the space program I did pencil drawings and some oil paintings.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 34 - 10:31:05 ]
RE: [Kelly/MrsReger/CrestonMiddleSchool] Ron Woods, How much does it cost to make a space suit?
The initial cost of the space suit costs approximately $9,000,000. But we must also realize that the suit is recycled after each mission. With the limited amount of components for flight processing and ground support the initial cost is actually going down as we support each mission.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 36 - 10:32:05 ]
RE: [Paulo] Mr.Woods,whats your biggest professional dream? could it be checking the suits to a possible Mars human mission?
To be able to fly as an EVA crewman and paint from my experiences in space.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 38 - 10:34:36 ]
RE: [Kelly/MrsReger/CrestonMiddleSchool] Ron Woods, How do you prepare the space suits for them to go back up into space? How long does the preparation take?
Once a mission is over the suits are returned to USA FCE/EVA contractor in Houston. The suits are resized and refurbished for the next designated EVA crewmember. The crewmember uses them in the chamber and then the suits are finalized and shipped to KSC for the next mission. I do not know the complete turn around time for each suit.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 42 - 10:39:44 ]
RE: [Randall] Is there a way to drink anything from inside the spacesuits currently used by astronauts? What if the astronaut has to pee?
There is drink bag attached to the front of the hard upper torso by velcro. The straw has an automatic shut off valve after drinking once released by the crewmember. The crewmember wears a maximum absorbent garment or a bag that attaches to the crewman for personal hygiene use.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 44 - 10:42:26 ]
RE: [Pedro] Are spacesuits pressurized in relation to your location in space, or is the pressure the same no matter where you are?
While in the suit the suit pressure is a constant 4.3psi. The orbiter cabin pressure is decreased so that pre-breathing time is lower.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 47 - 10:44:05 ]
RE: [Jocelyn] Why do you like painting?
It allows me to pass on my experiences in the space program in various ways. ie: pencil, watercolor, oils

[ RonWoods/KSC - 48 - 10:46:45 ]
RE: [Troy] Is your job fun?
Working with flight crew equipment for 31 years has always been a dream job. Helping with the Apollo suits for Apollo 8, Apollo 11 and Apollo 15 was one of the most rewarding experiences a person could ask for.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 49 - 10:47:36 ]
RE: [Matthew] Were you ever wounded in the Army?
No.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 53 - 10:51:45 ]
RE: [Kayla] Have you ever been in a rocket?
I worked in the Apollo command module, lunar module and inside the shuttle. Also I worked inside Spacelab.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 55 - 10:55:11 ]
RE: [Paulo] Mr.Woods...In case of the suits have some problems during the spaceflight,what are the procedures?Are there a set of substitute suites?in case of having,how the astronauts will dress for example,an EVA suit in conditions of zero gravity?
We do fly a resizing kit to make arms or legs shorter or longer to accommodate different sized crewmembers on orbit. If an EVA crewmember would encounter problems with the suit there are procedures monitored by mission control which would direct the crewmember to terminate the EVA.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 58 - 10:57:10 ]
RE: [Chris] What is your most favorite part of your job?
Watching the shuttle launch after many months of intense preparation. Making history!

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 59 - 11:00:28 ]
All, Ron Woods is answering a few questions we missed earlier. Thanks for waiting!

[ RonWoods/KSC - 60 - 11:00:30 ]
RE: [Sharon] What materials are spacesuits made from? How much do they weigh?
They weight 285 lbs. They are made of thermal material (urethane, nylon, micrometeorite shields (gortex, mylar, kapton, kapton tape, aluminum, polycarbonate and gold plating). The boot soles are made of RTV.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 62 - 11:04:59 ]
For those of you preparing to leave us, we remind you to visit our NASA QuestChat Information Center at http://quest.nasa.gov/qchats and send us your feednack about today's chat with Ron Woods.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 63 - 11:05:37 ]
RE: [Paulo] Mr.Woods,it seems to me,that the Apollo missions were sorrounded by a kind of aura,even for you,that worked there...was there the feeling of checking the components in a more accurate way,due to that certain aura,caused by some worries or feeling that absolutely nothing could go wrong there?
During the Apollo time frame the program was not so routine and the new technology was in its infancy and required more of the human factor in processing. In today's technology the proven products are routine but are still carefully verified by many sources in the flight process.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 66 - 11:08:06 ]
RE: [JD/Pines] What does EVA stand for?
JD, EVA stands for extra vehicular activity. This is the "technicak" term used when astronauts leave the confines of the space shuttle orbiter and are performing activites in space.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 67 - 11:08:06 ]
RE: [JD/Pines] What is a gortex bladder?
It's basically the brand name of the fabric that is part of the bladder system.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 68 - 11:09:23 ]
RE: [Michael] Do you fix the men to go in the space ship?
Not now. I helped during the Apollo program.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 69 - 11:10:37 ]
RE: [Peter] Greetings from Sombor, Yugoslavia. Sorry to be late. I would like to know what exactly is the difference between the white and orange space suits used for reentry, and what is their function?
The white suits are the extravehicular activity suits used only in space and the orange suits are for takeoff and landing support.

[ RonWoods/KSC - 70 - 11:11:29 ]
RE: [JD/Pines] Have you personally met any of the people that were on yesterdays chat?---Tim Terry, William Foster, Lisa Shore, and Michael Moses.
I've not had the privilege of meeting them.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 74 - 11:14:24 ]
This concludes today's NASA Quest Space Team Online/Classroom Connect chat with Ron Woods from NASA Kennedy Space Center. We would like to thank all our chatters for today's great questions, and extend our sincere thanks to Ron Woods for sharing his time and career experience with us online today. THANK YOU, RON!

[ Brian/ClassroomConnect - 75 - 11:14:37 ]
Thank you very much, Mr. Woods, for taking the time to chat. For those of you who wish to talk more about spacesuits, NASA, or other space issues, come to the Classroom Today Message Board! http://www.classroomtoday.com/messageboard

[ JD/Pines - 76 - 11:14:37 ]
Thanks, Mr. Woods!

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 77 - 11:15:23 ]
As a final reminder, visit our NASA QuestChat Information Center at http://quest.nasa.gov/qchats to send us your comments about today's chat.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 78 - 11:16:20 ]
We hop you can join us for our final event today at 12:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, when we chat with Astronaut Linda Godwin. More information is available at http://quest.nasa.gov/space/events/cc.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 79 - 11:16:44 ]
Thanks again for joining us today!