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  Exploration: Moon to Mars
  BioSuit: One giant leap for space fashion

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Author Topic:   BioSuit: One giant leap for space fashion
Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 50516
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 07-17-2007 08:42 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
MIT News
One giant leap for space fashion
MIT team designs sleek, skintight spacesuit

quote:
In the 40 years that humans have been traveling into space, the suits they wear have changed very little. The bulky, gas-pressurized outfits give astronauts a bubble of protection, but their significant mass and the pressure itself severely limit mobility.

Dava Newman, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics and engineering systems at MIT, wants to change that.

Newman is working on a sleek, advanced suit designed to allow superior mobility when humans eventually reach Mars or return to the moon. Her spandex and nylon BioSuit is not your grandfather's spacesuit -- think more Spiderman, less John Glenn.


Images above: Dava Newman models her Biosuit. Credit: Donna Coveney/MIT

Lou Chinal
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Posts: 1387
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007

posted 07-17-2007 10:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lou Chinal   Click Here to Email Lou Chinal     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Gee! it's looks neat! But the little boy in me wants to know how it works. Is there any more info. on it's layers? Has she any ideas for a backpack?
-Lou

Lunar rock nut
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Posts: 916
From: Oklahoma city, Oklahoma U.S.A.
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 07-18-2007 07:17 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lunar rock nut   Click Here to Email Lunar rock nut     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Now this is an interesting article. I can envision this suit as befitting the title of Constellation Astronaut. Appropriate attire of a 21st century Astronaut. To honor the original designers the PauL/SauL Space Suit (PLSS) is taylor fit also.

Innovative to say the least.

Terry

Jay Chladek
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Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007

posted 08-13-2007 01:29 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jay Chladek   Click Here to Email Jay Chladek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It is a novel idea and it makes sense. But, I still see thermal protection with warming and cooling of the body as the next big challenges to overcome. To date, an internal liquid cooling garment is the best system that has been used thus far.

I could potentially see something like this in use on Mars, but not necessarily the moon as that environment is pretty much as hostile as space during an EVA. Still, I am glad they are still pressing ahead with their research as they could be on to something here.

If they can make this work, then one benefit I can certainly see is the ability to do EVAs with an oxygen nitrogen atmosphere at closer to Earth norm pressure. This would avoid the potential need to pre-breathe pure oxygen to flush nitrogen out as normal suit pressure is only 5 PSI (which could cause the bends to an astronaut who hasn't pre-breathed).

Apollo Redux
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Posts: 346
From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Registered: Sep 2006

posted 08-23-2007 08:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Apollo Redux   Click Here to Email Apollo Redux     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
If I were an astronaut, I'd be more interested in protection against micro-meteorites.

All times are CT (US)

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