Development and Use
A patent for the suitport was first filled in 1987 by Marc M. Cohen, as he worked at NASA's Ames Research Center. Further patents were filed in 1996 by Philip Culbertson Jr., and in 2003 by Joerg Boettcher, Stephen Ransom, and Frank Steinsiek.
As of 1995, suitports have found a practical, terrestrial application as part of a NASA Ames hazardous materials vehicle, where the use of the suitport eliminates the need to decontaminate the hazmat suit before doffing. A suitport prototype built by Brand Griffin has been used in a simulated lunar gravity test on board NASA Johnson's C-135 aircraft.
Suitports may find use as part of future NASA projects aimed at achieving the Vision for Space Exploration, which calls for a return to the Moon by the year 2020, and eventual manned exploration of Mars. NASA's conceptual Space Exploration Vehicle has two suitports on the back of the craft.
Testing has been taking place in combination with the Z-1 prototype spacesuit inside NASA's human-rated thermal vacuum chamber B at the Johnson Space Center. Early unmanned tests of the suitport were conducted in June 2012. The first manned tests of the suitport occurred on 16 and 18 July 2012; during these manned tests the spacesuit was kept at a pressure of 14.7 psi (1 atm) with the chamber pressure equivalent to an altitude of 21,000 feet (6,400 m). Future manned tests are planned for September and August 2012, where NASA plans to keep the spacesuit at a pressure of 8 psi (0.5 atm) and the vacuum chamber at roughly 0 psi (0 atm). Suitports may eventually be tested on the International Space Station.
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