Testing Suits and
Controls for Orion

| published April 3, 2016 |

By Thursday Review staff

At Houston’s Johnson Space Center, engineers and hardware designers have been testing rotational hand controllers and cursor control devices using full spacesuits—including gloves. The tests are essential to make sure that future Orion astronauts will be able to interact effectively with the equipment and the computers on board. The controller devices are used to operate Orion’s displays and control systems, which in turn will be used to maneuver and manage the Orion spaceship for long duration missions to Mars, the Asteroid Belt, Jupiter, and beyond.

The safe interaction between fully suited astronauts and their controls is essential, since many phases of the missions may require the operation of the controls while wearing gloves, helmets and other items which may inhibit movement and dexterity.

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Fifty Years Ago in Space: Gemini's First Docking; Keith H. Roberts; Thursday Review; March 16, 2016.