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There is no doubt that spacesuit design has come a long way.

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Early U.S. spacesuits were adapted from pressure suits designed for pilots

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of high-altitude military and experimental aircraft.

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Today, modern suits are a reliable and mobile unit

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that astronauts depend on during spaceflight.

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Our own Johnny Alonzo found out more about spacesuits and how they work.

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Space is an incredibly brutal environment.

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Not only is there no atmospheric pressure or oxygen to sustain life,

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but human explorers must also deal with intense radiation and extreme temperatures

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in order to perform even the most basic tasks.

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Inside a spacecraft, the atmosphere can be controlled

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so that special clothing isn't needed.

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But when outside, humans need the protection of a spacesuit.

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In 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard wore one of the first suits designed

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for spaceflight aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft.

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This suit was actually a modified version

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of a Navy high-altitude jet aircraft pressure suit.

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Spacesuits have come a long way since then.

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The current Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or EMU, is the result of many years of research

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and development and is also a powerful tool for operations outside the International Space Station

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and the shuttle.

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I spoke with engineer Phil West to find out how it works.

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Most people have this preconceived idea that a spacesuit is pretty simple,

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heavy cloth and things, but it's really a mini-spacecraft that lets you step

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out into this very harsh environment.

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What are the consequences of not wearing a spacesuit?

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Well, it's a bad day if you don't wear your spacesuit.

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First of all, there's a vacuum in space, right?

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So just like when you open a soda bottle, it's going to fizz, right?

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Sure.

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Your body will do the same thing, and literally what's happening is your body fluids,

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your blood and everything are going to boil, all right?

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And it's not because of temperature, it's because of pressure.

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Remove the pressure and that stuff wants to come out.

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So then you've got temperature extremes, and I don't mean temperature of space.

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You need molecules to have temperature, but your temperature,

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the spacecraft's temperature could get very cold or very hot depending on whether you're

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in the sun or in the shade or the things around you.

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Sure. Okay?

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And then there's little particles of natural or human-made stuff that fly

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around space at high speeds and could literally hit you, yeah,

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or micrometeoroids, natural stuff that comes in from elsewhere.

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What are modern spacesuits made out of?

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Think of the spacesuit as a balloon shaped like your body, all right?

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And we've got to have a layer to make that balloon.

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So we use this urethane-coated nylon, okay?

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That's like camping tent material, but it's got a coating on it to seal it up,

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and that's the basic layer that holds all the gas in.

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We put that and we make it the shape of your body.

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We call it the bladder.

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Now, what would happen to a balloon if you inflated it too much?

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It'll pop.

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Right, pop, which is bad.

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So in a spacesuit world, anyway.

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So we've got to constrain it.

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We've got to make sure it's the right shape.

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So we use this polyester layer to give it structure and strength

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and make sure it's the right shape of your body, the right size, arm length, et cetera.

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So that's the first two key layers of the spacesuit.

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Then remember temperature extremes we talked about?

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Yes. Okay, we have five layers of aluminized mylar.

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So now think of the spacesuit as a thermos bottle.

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You know how a thermos bottle works?

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It's got a vacuum between an insulator and a glass jar with a silvery coating on it.

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So that's for thermal protection.

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And then a real tough layer of Nomex with Teflon coating on it.

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I feel that's kind of slick, right?

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Yeah.

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And it's got Kevlar woven into it, a very strong fiber.

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Okay.

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And that's so you don't get tears and you protect all these other layers very well, right?

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You don't want to get a hole in here because you don't want to get a hole back here in your bladder.

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Right.

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Phil, how do these spacesuits operate?

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Well, you've got a control pack on the front and a life support system on the back, all right?

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And that life support system is more than just oxygen.

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It's got batteries for power, a radio for communications, a computer.

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And a bunch of plumbing and things to keep you alive.

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Okay.

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And that's all controlled up in the front here with this control pack.

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And so we've got some places for the astronaut control like their communications equipment.

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You can open that valve if you're suit or pressurizes.

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There's a little dial there to change your communications mode.

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And a little display to tell you, hey, you know, Johnny, you've only got 3% battery power left.

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Time to go back.

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Pack up your toys and bring it on in.

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And then controls in the front here for volume and your position whether you're inside

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or outside the spacecraft is up here on the front.

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And what's this dial?

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Well, that's for temperature.

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Remember, we're inside a thermos bottle, okay?

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And you're a heat engine.

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You're actually producing heat.

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You're not just like hot chocolate.

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Okay.

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Hot chocolate in a thermos bottle stays warm but doesn't get any hotter.

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You would get hotter, right?

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You'd overheat.

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Literally, your own body heat would be your downfall

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because your body heat is going to have nowhere to go.

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It can be trapped in there with you.

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Right.

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That's what happens in a space suit.

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So literally, what we'll do is pump cold water all over your body through long underwear like this.

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Check that out.

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All right?

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And so that is plumbed.

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This connects inside the suit.

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And then this dial controls the temperature of the water that flows

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over your body through all these tubes.

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There's enough tube in there to stretch the length of a football field.

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Really?

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And you can actually see the water.

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See the air bubbles in there?

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There's a few air bubbles.

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Yeah, yeah, sure, sure.

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It's all charged right now.

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So Phil, off the record.

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Yeah.

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How do you relieve yourself from one of these?

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Good question.

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You know, well, you've got a drink bag so you're going to want to drink some water.

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And eventually, that's got a place to go.

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Well, it's pretty technical.

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It's a diaper.

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Lovely.

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The whole idea was let's save money.

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Let's use adult off-the-shelf diapers.

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We sew extra material into them.

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They work great if you can get past the idea that your mom told you not to go

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in your pants.

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Hey, Phil, thanks a lot.

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Yeah.

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Giving us all the info about our spaces.

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Sure.

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Listen, I was wondering, can I get like a souvenir off this?

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I mean, I wish I could, but there's no way.

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You know, it's pretty nice stuff.

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We really can't wait.

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Let me think.

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Well, you know what?

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Actually, this is used.

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We don't need the diaper anymore.

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You can have that.