Astronauts aboard the International Space station can undertake spacewalks for eg vital maintenance of up to 8.5 hours in duration.
If a suit has a carbon dioxide scrubber failure, the duration of spacewalks is severely curtailed.
Today’s invention allows an astronaut a way to stay out longer, if they have emergency repairs to undertake, during an EVA.
A spare space suit is filled with oxygen to a pressure greater than the normal 1/3 of atmospheric.
This can be taken with the ISS crew member outside and connected to the suit of a working astronaut so that it acts as an additional air bladder -extending the time for which a spacewalk can last.
(If the cooling water circulation in the spare suit is still working, this too could be attached to the suit being worn).
