Jet Shoes Experiment ~ 1967 NASA Langley Research Center (JQ Music)

more at http://quickfound.net/

Tests of jet shoes for astronaut maneuvering during EVAs.

Originally a public domain film from NASA, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The film was silent. I have added music created by myself using the Reaper Digital Audio Workstation and the Independence and Proteus VX VST instrument plugins.

https://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Jet_Shoes_and_Other_Self-Locomotion

Inspiration

The Jet Shoe concept was created by John D. Bird in 1965. The concept was initially inspired by the “Flying Platform” design, created by Charles H. Zimmerman and Paul Hill, which showed man’s inherent ability to control a thrust vector pushing against the soles of his feet. The intentions of the “Flying Platform” project developers were to use it for exploration on the Moon. The platform was a proof-of-concept work for the servomechanism used for the Lunar Landing Research Facility in 1962 ( photo with Champine). The army was also interested in using the device for transporting soldiers. Considering that approach and the fact that swim divers can maneuver in water using utilizing the thrust developed by flippers it suggests the concept of placing jets on the shoes of a subject in zero gravity.

Concept

The Jet Shoe concept involves placing single jets on the soles of the shoes of the subject. These jets are activated on demand by depressing a toe switch. Movement of the feet and legs is used to direct the jets and so produce the desired change in attitude and position. The switches are individually controlled and can be activated by a toe switch, a bite bar, or a sip-switch (the latter options involve the subject’s mouth). The Jet Shoes experiment hardware consists of a gas storage backpack assembly and portable show mounted solenoid thrust valves. The pneumatic system was designed to use gaseous oxygen and to deliver two pounds of thrust from each thrust valve nozzle with a pressure at a regular outlet of approximately 165 psi. The gas storage tank was designed to contain a minimum of 15 pounds of gaseous oxygen at 6000 psi. This concept makes use of the well developed balance capability of the human body utilized in walking to control jets attached to the soles of the shoes to produce the desired translations and rotations of the body necessary for extravehicular activity.

There are several advantages to using the Jet Shoe concept. Because the jets are directed and controlled by the feet and not by the hands, both hands are free for other tasks. The utilization of only two jets for the entire locomotion process rather than a greater number of jets in an orthogonal array makes the system simple in number of components and more reliable.

Facilities and Simulators

Several facilities at the NASA Langley Research Center were employed for simulating a zero gravity environment of the astronaut maneuvering in free space. Experiments were conducted using various techniques to gain confidence in the effectiveness of Jet Shoes for EVAs, or astronaut Extra-Vehicular Activity. The maneuvers here at Langley were performed first without a space suit in a short sleeve environment and later in a pressurized space suit to gain an idea of the influence of the restriction in mobility on the effectiveness of the Jet Shoes...

There were obstacles that the researchers faced while designing the Jet Shoes. The criticism of Jet Shoe models was that they were heavy, inconvenient to put on, and needed initial adjustment... The disadvantages to Jet Shoes eventually caused Langley researchers to move on to a new design.

Progression to FCMU and MMU

The idea for the Foot Controlled Maneuvering Unit, or the FCMU, evolved from the “Flying Platform” and John D. Bird’s original Jet Shoes concept. On April 6, 1967, Deke Slayton, Direction of Flight Crew Operations, requested Jet Shoes to be removed from the experiment program...

Astronaut Using Manned Maneuvering Unit

The Manned Maneuvering Unit, or MMU, is the most recent extravehicular activity device that has assisted many astronauts during EVA. The research conducted at the Langley Research Center on Jet Shoe and the FCMU helped with the progression towards this back-mounted maneuvering system... The distance between the thrusters and the astronaut’s center of gravity in the Jet Shoes concept, which is approximately around his torso, was too large... The thrusters were powered by gaseous nitrogen from the two storage tanks in the rear central compartment of the unit...