Video: Name This Piece of Gear
Keith’s note: Scott Parazynski and I did a number of live video chats with Miles O’Brien while while we were at Everest Base Camp exactly 3 years ago. Miles was originally supposed to have joined us but ended up being stuck in his laundry room in New York which doubled as his media studio. Toward the end of this video I pulled out a piece of hardware and teased the audience to guess what it was and its purpose. I don’t think I ever asked for reader comments at the time. So … anyone care to guess what I am holding and why we had it with us?
How did you get the EVA clamp???
Scott is a former astronaut and EVA expert.
Yes, i meant, how did they happen to end up at Everest? 😉
They do work very well with heavily gloved hands.
We “borrowed” it from NASA – along with some Apollo 11 Moon rocks …. and yes, this device was easy to use with thick gloves on but I think it would need some mods to use in mountaineering – it is too long and you want things that you can manipulate easily with finger/wrist movements – this thing requires forearm motion too.
… to use as a safety line clamp.
Scott has had alot of practice with them on the ends of EVA safety tethers.
I always thought those clamps would make good climbing aids. The big question is, how did they work out? Were they helpful?
And yes i did work with the EVA teams and testing the equipment and crews in the past. IMO, the Russian clamps seemed simpler to use, but i was a bit worried about the spring tethers they used.
They’d need some redesign to be practical. But, they do operate rather easily if you have big bulky gloves on. Also, these things are not designed to take the sudden loads that come with falls so that would need to be addressed as well.
The Large EVA Hook is intentionally designed to require multiple actions in order to release it so that an astronaut does not accidentally release his safety tether. Â Â