Valsalva Maneuver - Valsalva Device in Spacesuits

Valsalva Device in Spacesuits

On 25 May 2011, NASA reported that during the second spacewalk of Space Shuttle mission STS-134, astronaut Drew Feustel was able to clear tears from his eye by wiggling down far enough in his Extravehicular Mobility Unit (spacesuit) to make use of "a spongy device called a Valsalva that is typically used to block the nose in case a pressure readjustment is needed." The tears came about because some of a film of anti-fogging agent (liquid soap) came free from the inside of the helmet and floated into his eye.

In November 2011 ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti posted on Twitter a picture of her demonstrating the use of the Valsalva device in the Sokol space suit.

Read more about this topic:  Valsalva Maneuver

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