Hazardous Operations

It has been busy at work lately. We have been fueling the shuttle with the fuel it uses to maneuver in space. It uses two different hypergolic fluids. Hypergolic liquids are two liquids that ignite on contact with each other. These chemicals are very hazardous and we have to wear special suits to protect us. They are called SCAPE suits. That is, Self-Contained Atmospheric Protection Ensemble. Basically they are large sixty pound rubber suits. The suit itself weighs about twenty pounds and a full air pack weighs about 40 pounds. Regular street clothes won’t fit inside the suit so we change into thermal underwear. A friend of mine took some pictures of me getting out of a suit about a week ago and I wanted to share them.