Android, Space Suit, Testing

This articulated dummy was built for NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center by the Illinois Institute of Technology to support the development of spacesuits. It used hydraulic and electrical actuators to replicate many of the joint motions of the human body, with realistic forces. Sensors placed throughout the dummy measured forces that a prototype suit might exert on a human being when wearing the suit in a space environment. That enabled suit designers to measure how much force a human would need to move an arm or leg, or turn his or her head, when wearing a suit in space.By using this dummy instead of a human being during the design and testing of a space suit, tests could proceed that might otherwise be painful, tedious, or even dangerous for a human being to participate in.Donated by Larry Graham to the Museum in 1986.