shoulder pockets on both upper arms. The light sticks are intended as an aid in case of an emergency, and are colored orange to identify the astronaut crew, while technicians in the close-out crew carry green ones. Each suit is sized individually, although most suits can be worn by astronauts of different heights. No ACES has failed during normal flight operations. The Columbia investigation found that the crews' ACES all failed at some point, but also that none of the Columbia crew had sealed their helmets, and also that several were not wearing suit gloves. By comparison, in 1966 an SR-71 pilot in a similar suit, whose helmet and gloves were sealed, survived similar pressure conditions when his aircraft broke up while flying at approximately Mach 3. The "thermal and chemical environment of the Columbia accident (the temperature and oxygen concentration) was "much more severe" than in the SR-71 accident, however, and the report recommended that future crew survival suits be evaluated for thermal and chemical resistance as well as (as USAF suits had been evaluated previously) pressure and windblast. Specifications Name: Advanced Crew Escape Suit (S1035) Derived from: USAF Model S1034 Manufacturer: David Clark Company Missions: STS-64 to STS-135 Function: Intra-vehicular activity (IVA) Pressure type: Full Operating pressure: Total weight: Suit weight: Parachute and survival systems weight: Useful altitude: Primary life support: Externally to suit, vehicle provided Backup life support: 10 minutes Future use Initially, ACES was intended to be retired after the Space Shuttle program and be replaced by the Constellation Space Suit for Orion missions. The Artemis program instead planned to use a modified ACES called the Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS). This suit will have increased mobility in comparison to its Space Shuttle counterpart and will use a closed-loop system to preserve resources. The OCSS is to be worn inside the Orion spacecraft during launch and re-entry, in case of a depressurization emergency. Gallery References General External links News, links, mission schedules, and NASA for kids Astronautix ACES ACES Guide - 152 pages - 2005 Advanced Crew Escape Suit PDF - 4 Pages - 2008 Spacesuits Built to Handle Pressure - 2008 Video Demonstration of ACES suit preparation at the Kennedy Space Center American spacesuits 1994 clothing