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STUDENTS GET TO GRIPS WITH A RUSSIAN SPACE SUIT
AN exhibition touring the five secondary schools is out of this world.
Each school will have a Russian Sokol KV-2 space suit, on loan from the US-based Heinlein Prize Trust, for a week.
It has been arranged by ManSat Ltd to inform pupils about the benefit of space activities and to inspire them to pursue careers in the space industry.
ManSat finance director Ian Jarritt said it was a great opportunity for the Isle of Man.
ManSat, which has offices in Houston, London and Onchan, provides tailored business services to meet the needs of the international space industry.
Mr Jarritt said: 'If the space suit's visit encourages people to take an interest in science it's a good thing.'
At Ballakermeen High School, Douglas, students have been learning about what's needed to survive in space, how astronauts are given oxygen supplies, what happens to waste gases, how the visor protects against the sun's rays and about the in-built sensors which monitor heart rate and temperature.
Peter Miller, head of science at BHS, said: 'We ran a space project in which they learnt about planets and space travel. This supports that and other work in school and gives them a real hands-on experience. To actually see the real thing is a real eye-opener for them.'
The suit was designed in 1979 by experts at RD & PE Zvezda in the former Soviet Union and is used on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
BHS student Martin Evans, 17, said: 'It is much more complicated than I expected. It does 20 different things. I thought it only let them breathe, but it regulates everything about them while they are up there. I was quite surprised, it's much smaller than I expected.'
After the tour of the Island the Heinlein Prize Trust will give the suit away as a prize in Japan.
The trust continues the work of American science fiction author Robert Heinlein, who died in 1988. His novel Have Space Suit, Will Travel was instrumental in the design of spacesuits.
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Weather for Isle of Man
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 7 C to 8 C
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