January 16, 1995

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COVER STORY

U.S., Russian Suits Serve Diverse Eva Goals

WINDSOR LOCKS, CONN. With the U.S. and Russia working intensely toward an era of joint space flights, the similarities and differences in U.S. and Russian hardware have assumed far more than an academic interest. Nowhere is such understanding more important than with the equipment astronauts and cosmonauts rely on during extravehicular activity (EVA).

By JAMES R. ASKER12 min

COVER STORY

U.S., Russia Plan Joint Space Walks

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER The U.S. and Russia plan for cosmonauts and astronauts to perform extravehicular activities together outside the Mir space station, including the first four-person space walk. NASA and the Russian Space Agency (RSA) are still charting their joint extravehicular activity course for the era of space shuttle flights to Mir, set to begin next month and run through 1997.

By JAMES R. ASKER7 min

HEADLINE NEWS

U.S., Russia Plot Shuttle/MIR Flights

U.S. flights to Russian station will begin next month. But many details must be worked out to smooth road to new, international space station

By JAMES R. ASKER6 min

HEADLINE NEWS

B-2 Buy Tangled in Mission Rivalries

WASHINGTON The question of whether to buy additional Northrop B-2 long-range bombers, which has become a pivotal issue in the struggle over revising U.S. military roles and missions, has also become the focus of an internal debate within the U.S. Air Force.

By DAVID A. FULGHUM6 min

COVER STORY

Suits Are $10-million Spacecraft, Not Clothes

WINDSOR LOCKS, CONN. The first thing you learn inside a space suit is that there is not much reason to wear one on Earth. The chief drawback of either the U.S. or Russian suit is the considerable weight—about 250 lb. So for exercises on Earth, the life support systems are replaced with dummy backpacks of the same size.

January 91995

January 231995

January 16, 1995

January 16, 1995