In general, hand/arm fatigue is an ongoing problem for all astronauts when using their hands in a pressurized spacesuit. Imagine trying to squeeze a football for several hours over multiple days.
It can lead to finger, wrist, and arm pain including cramps and black fingernails.
Apollo missions were brief - 75 hours for the longest mission. Now imagine you're an Artemis astronaut spending weeks in and out of a pressurized suit, not just a few days.
 |
| Gloves for the Apollo program were customized using plaster hand casts from each astronaut. These are casts from Apollo 11 astronauts on display at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. Photo: Mickey Kulp |
 |
| A rubber inner-glove was made from the plaster cast. The knuckles were artificially enlarged for easier bending. Photo: NASA |
Scott's 50-year-old advice still has application for Artemis astronauts and designers.
SCOTT
IRWIN
 |
| Dave Scott making statements immediately after splashdown. Note his blackened fingernails. Photo: NASA |
SCOTT
I ended up with a compromise solution on my arm length and my gloves. I had requested, just prior to the flight, for the people to shorten the arms so I could have mobility close to my chest, where I had to do most of the work.
If the arms were too long and the fingers were extended at that point, I got hand cramps trying to work the gloves. If the arms were shortened , when my arm was outstretched my fingers were pushing against the inside tips of the gloves.
My feeling before the flight was that I'd rather have the tight arms than the cramps in the hands. It resulted in too much pressure on my fingertips, but I'll accept that compromise because it enabled me to continue working without any hand cramps.
I never got any hand cramps at all throughout the whole operation. I felt like I had good mobility in cinching up the geology sample bags and in doing all that ALSEP [Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package] operation. Driving the Rover was also quite comfortable, except for my fingertips.
Other than that, I thought the PGA [Pressure Garment Assembly] was excellent.
 |
| Apollo 15 crew (L-R): CDR Dave Scott, CMP Al Worden, LMP Jim Irwin. Photo: NASA |
IRWIN
I think I had the same fit that you did on EVA-1, certainly. At the end of the EVA, my fingers were really sore -- the fingernails and the end of the fingers.
After that, I cut my fingernails back to the quick, just as far as I possibly could with the scissors; and then on EVA-2, my fingers didn't bother me at all . That solved it for me. I didn't have any cramps either.
 |
| Neil Armstrong's lunar glove from Apollo 11. Photo: NASA. |
SCOTT
I surely think that a better glove could be made which fits tighter. I think the gloves, in my case, are still too bulky, and there is too much easement inside the glove.
I think for an EVA operation you need to have a glove which has a smaller easement than for an IV [Intravehicular] operation when you don' t plan to pressurize.
Scott gives some sound advice for our era of space exploration:
When you plan to run pressurized all the time, as you do an EVA glove, I think they should be designed and built for that operation alone, and not try to compromise by having it comfortable in an IV situation.
 |
| Neil Armstrong's lunar glove from Apollo 11. Photo: NASA. |
Further Reading
[1] "Apollo 15 Technical Crew Debriefing"; 14 AUG 1971; PDF scan by Glen Swanson; https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15tecdbrf.html
[2] "Neil Armstrong's Flown Suit"; https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/A11NAAFlownSuit.html
