Fueling Intelsat New Dawn in a Self-Contained Suit

Today's fueling operations began with the Orbital team suiting up in their Self -Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suits to protect themselves from the dangers of the satellite fuel.

The SCAPE suits protect the Orbital propulsion engineers when loading the oxidizer as part of fueling operations. The oxidizer, nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4), is similar to nitric acid and is commonly used in satellites to combust with the hydrazine (the fuel) to provide orbit raising. N2O4 is extremely hazardous so the suits are designed to protect them from inhalation of any vapors or burns from the liquid. A few molecules of the stuff can make you sick and any liquid on your skin will instantaneously burn. As the name suggests, SCAPE provides complete protection from any vapors and liquids that might leak during the fueling operations.

As you can see, the SCAPE suit is almost like a space suit; it provides cool air for comfort and closed circuit breathing air. Suiting up is done in a remote area, and the team is then transported to the Hazardous Processing Facilities (HPF) to conduct the operations. The operations typically take up to eight hours. Once they are complete, all the personnel are deluged with water to make sure all residual fuel is removed from their suits. After that, they are moved by van back to the dressing rooms to remove their suits. Needless to say, being in those suits for 8-10 hours is a grueling and difficult work.

Contributer:
Brian Sing, Satellite Mission Director, Intelsat New Dawn