Thanks to a golden helmet cover, a sort of second visor called an “extravehicular visor” (EVVA), the coating of which attenuates heat and reduces the intensity of solar radiation.
In low Earth orbit, where the International Space Station is located for example (408 km above sea level), the ozone layer no longer protects the end of the ultraviolet spectrum. However, its effects are to be feared: the wavelengths are the shortest and the rays the most harmful, ranging from ultraviolet B to gamma rays, the most dangerous of all, capable of interfering with the DNA of cells.
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“The helmet and the visor are made of polycarbonate plastic, but the ex travvehicular visor, to be deployed manually, is also covered with a thin layer of metal, a nickel-chromium alloy deposited by evaporation, which blocks this harmful UV radiation” , specifies Daniel Klopp, marketing director at ILC Dover, the supplier of spacesuits for extra-vehicular activity of NASA.
In addition to their protective role, the space visors of tomorrow will also become an information medium, with projection of a virtual dashboard, as with US Navy pilots.
According to Science & Vie n ° 1243
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