| has gloss | eng: A Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment, or LCVG, is a form-fitting garment worn by astronauts in order to maintain a comfortable core body temperature during extra-vehicular activity. The LCVG accomplishes this task by circulating cool water through a network of flexible tubes in direct contact with the astronauts skin. The water draws heat away from the body, resulting in a lower core temperature. The water then returns to the Primary Life Support System, or PLSS, where it is cooled in a heat exchanger before being recirculated. In an independent space suit, the heat is ultimately transferred to a thin sheet of ice (formed by a separate feed water source). Due to the extremely low pressure in space, the heated ice sublimates directly to water vapor, which is then vented away from the suit. In a dependent space suit (such as the ones used in the Gemini program or within lunar orbit on the Apollo program), the heat is carried back to a host spacecraft through an umbilical connection, where it is ultimately radiated or sublimated via the spacecrafts own thermal control system. |
