How could the astronauts
manipulate the delicate controls of the cameras in those clumsy
gloves?
The Hasselblad cameras were standard 500/EL models specifically
modified to be operated while wearing space gloves and to endure the
lunar environment. The shutter release was a trigger on the pistol
grip. Some of the astronauts reported accidentally taking a picture
when they didn't want to because they held the pistol grip wrong from
time to time.
The f-stop and focus controls were rings on the lens and didn't
require any modification. They didn't require dexterity to operate
them.
The shutter speed control had to be modified (enlarged) in order
for someone in space gloves to operate it.
The EVA suits for the
space shuttle have visible joints to allow for movement. The Apollo
suits have no such joints. Without them the suits would have been
impossible to flex.
There is no doubt that space suit design has come a long way in
thirty years. Today's space suits are very different in some ways
from the Apollo suits.
The Apollo suit was constructed of several layers. The outer
layers were various types of cloth and insulation which were naturally
flexible. The layer of interest is the pressure garment, which is the
predictable inflated airtight bladder. The picture below shows an
Apollo space suit without the fabric covering. The accordion joints
at the knees and elbows, and the swivel joints at the shoulders
provide the necessary range of motion. These are the same features as
the shuttle suits. They're just covered up by fabric in the Apollo
design.
NASA: 72-H-314
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If the suits were
pressurized in a vacuum they should bulge out. But we never see them
inflated.
To the experienced eye there is a visible difference between a
pressurized suit and a deflated suit. But at the same time, the suit
designers provided a "restraint layer". The suit did not need to
bulge in order to be effective. It merely had to contain a volume of
air around the astronaut's body. But in order to do that and still be
flexible it would have to be made from some material like neoprene
which is both flexible and airtight. The tendency of these materials
to stretch when inflated is a problem, not a desired effect. So the
suit was allowed to balloon a little bit in order to provide the right
environment for the astronaut, but it was kept from bulging as far as
it wanted to go because that poses problems for flexibility and for
fitting through hatches and moving about inside the spacecraft.
The restraint layer was simply a web of nonstretch netting made in
the shape of the suit, only larger. As the pressure garment (the
neoprene part) expanded, it could expand only until it filled the
restraint netting. Imagine blowing up a balloon in a small fish net.
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