Gemini 9 and the Sweaty AMU
NASA tasked Gene Cernan with testing the AMU out in space, connected to the spacecraft only by a tether. But the experiment went sour early in the mission. The pressure suit became hard in the vacuum of space. Cernan described the sensation as “all the flexibility of a suit of armor.” Cernan began to sweat. There was no real cooling in the suit, nor hand and footholds to let him rest. He was sweating so much his helmet visor began to fog. Using the tip of his nose, he cleared a small space to look out from, but he was essentially moving blind. Stafford ordered him to return to the craft. Cernan lost 13 pounds (5.9 kg) from this one EVA, and his heart reached 180 beats per minute. Further testing of the suit in a pool revealed that it was the suit, not Cernan’s performance, which was the problem.