DailyDirt: Looking Fashionable In New Spacesuit Designs

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Wed, Nov 5th 2014 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Protecting humans from the harsh environment of space isn't easy, so spacesuits are usually bulky and not too fashionable. Buzz Lightyear's outfit is actually not too unbecoming, but astronauts probably shouldn't dress like animated characters, even if they could. Astronauts shouldn't worry about what they look like as long as they're safely protected, but certain astronaut images might scare off folks (aliens?). Here are just a few spacesuit designs that future space travelers are testing out now.

Alan Eustace didn't make it to space, but he did set a new world record by free falling from 25 miles above the Earth. He broke Felix Baumgartner's record by about a mile, and it took a special spacesuit to protect him during his 15-minute fall that exceeded the speed of sound. [url]
MIT is working on a form-fitting spacesuit with active compression coils embedded in the fabric. This BioSuit has been under development for a few years already, and it's definitely the most fashionable spacesuit -- if it actually allows astronauts to survive in space. [url]
NASA asked people to vote for their favorite new Z-2 spacesuit design, but the winning design won't go into space. The Z-2 suit will be tested for performance and comfort, but it's just a prototype that will influence the design of a future spacesuit that may one day be used for spacewalks and planetary EVAs. [url]

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Filed Under: alan eustace, astronauts, biosuit, eva, felix baumgartner, manned missions, space, space exploration, spacesuit
Companies: mit, nasa

7 Comments

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Mason Wheeler (profile), 5 Nov 2014 @ 5:05pm

Hmm... this Daily Dirt looks familiar.
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Michael Ho (profile), 5 Nov 2014 @ 6:34pm

not quite...
Hmm. not quite a dupe, except for the BioSuit. Maybe I should lay off the space-related DailyDirts for a while?
(I've been tempted to do one on all the crashes and explosions recently....)
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Nov 2014 @ 8:53pm

Re: not quite...
It's far from the first time. For instance, yesterday's "DailyDirt" about keyboards was not a completely fresh topic either.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100720/16432710294/dailydirt-better-keyboards.shtml

No need to give the space topic the Heave–Ho, as it's always an interesting subject. Instead, just use a search engine and include links to previous DailyDirt posts in order to give the story greater depth. Kind of like the way the other Techdirt writers tend to operate. ;)
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Michael Ho (profile), 5 Nov 2014 @ 10:06pm

Hmm. I've actually done quite a few DailyDirts on input devices... So if I included links to all of them, it would take up quite a bit of space.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Nov 2014 @ 11:20pm

Re:
Just a single link to the last article on the subject is all that's really needed. Keep doing that, and eventually, all the stories on a topic will be chained together.

While its certainly true that many bloggers go "link crazy" -- even linking to things like Wikipedia and dictionary definitions in addition to scores of semi-off-topic "vanity links" in every post -- it needs to be a basic rule that internet writers should try to link to one or two of their previous posts on the topic. Is that asking too much?
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New Mexico Mark, 6 Nov 2014 @ 2:44am

Skin-tight space suit challenges not mentioned in MIT article
Although form fitting suits have always been an intriguing idea (especially when combined with attractive young actresses in sci-fi shows), vacuum is not the only enemy in space. Suits have to insulate the wearer from huge temperature extremes and some forms of radiation. Suits for extended EVA missions need mechanisms for collection of liquid and solid body waste. In surface environments (like the moon), suits also have to shed particulate contaminants well. Interestingly, suits have to protect not just the user but their environment as well. For instance, using normal water evaporation (sweat) through a suit as a cooling mechanism might be efficient, but could contaminate or damage sensitive spacecraft or satellite equipment.

The challenges remind me of my attempts to redesign the tent I use for backpacking to make it even lighter. It is reasonably spacious and weighs 1.5 lbs. By the time any of my ideas incorporate all of my requirements (quick set-up/breakdown, floor, small packed size, insect-proof, wind stability, vestibule, etc.) I'm pretty much back to the tent I already have.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Nov 2014 @ 5:46am

"especially when combined with attractive young actresses in sci-fi shows ... Suits for extended EVA missions need mechanisms for collection of liquid and solid body waste."

Not in Hollywood. Anyone who saw any space movie from 1979's Alien to 2013's Gravity knows that spacewomen wear nothing but skimpy undies under their spacesuits ...

... and always emerge from their hermetically-sealed spacesuits completely dry, no matter how long they've been wearing them.
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