The Suitport's Progress

Abstract

NASA-Ames Research Center developed the Suitport as an advanced space suit airlock to support a Space Station suit based on the AX-5 hard suit. Several third parties proposed their own variations of the Suitport on the moon and Mars. The Suitport recently found its first practical use as a terrestrial application in the NASA-Ames Hazmat vehicle for the clean-up of hazardous and toxic materials. In the Hazmat application, the Suitport offers substantial improvements over conventional hazard suits by eliminating the necessity to decontaminate before doffing the suit.