A U.S. research team recently introduced a prototype spacesuit that resembles a wetsuit, but it’s tough enough to handle an atmosphere like Mars. The BioSuit could one day replace the clunky outfit worn by today’s astronauts.
Digital Journal — Who said astronauts can’t be sexy? Not a team of U.S. researchers who recently unveiled a prototype for a skintight spacesuit, a sleek clingy outfit designed to help space explorers be more agile. Besides aesthetics, the BioSuit can also save astronauts from life-threatening decompression accidents.
The BioSuit is a far cry from the protective and clunky outfit worn by astronauts today, said one of the BioSuit’s creators, Dava Newman, professor of aeronautics, astronautics and engineering systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In article on the MIT website, Newman said:[Traditional spacesuits] do not afford the mobility and locomotion capability that astronauts need for partial gravity exploration missions. We really must design for greater mobility and enhanced human and robotic capability.
The form-fitting suit has to be more than just sleek; it assists astronauts by creating mechanical counter pressure, which means tight layers of material are wrapped around the body. Today’s suits, though, use gas pressurization, creating an Earth-like atmosphere around the astronaut’s body. This method works, but it adds incredible bulk: the accompanying life support system weighs close to 300 lbs. Newman estimated that astronauts typically expend about 70 per cent of their energy just moving around in their suit.
Fitting like a tight wetsuit, the BioSuit will be tailored to astronauts individually, creating what Newman called “a second skin.” Another advantage of the prototype is its safety features: if the suit is punctured by a tiny meteorite, for example, the small puncture can be wrapped like a bandage without the rest of the suit being affected. When modern spacesuits are torn, astronauts must return to home base immediately to avoid deadly decompression.
But Newman still has to work out a kink before the spacesuit can be made available to astronauts. (The BioSuit, partly funded by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, will likely be ready in 10 years). As Time reported, the research team needs to find a way to make the suits sustain enough counter pressure.
– Photo courtesy Donna Coveney/MIT
To work, the BioSuit needs to exert close to one-third of the pressure exerted by the Earth’s atmosphere, or 30 kilopascals (kPA). So far, the suits have consistently given off only 20 kPA. The researchers aren’t sure what the problem is yet, but they suspect it has something to do with the suit’s pattern.
What the BioSuit represents is nothing short of revolutionary.
The astronaut’s imprint on our collective memory is filled with images of clunky white spacesuits, inflating the human body to something that resembles the Michelin Man. We didn’t question space agencies when they outfitted space explorers with uncomfortable-looking outfits because we assumed safety eclipsed agility. Who are we to wonder if NASA’s equipment could be outdated?
Now with Newman’s BioSuit, we see a future of space missions where astronauts not only look snazzy but also can have the flexibility they deserve.
And if they truly can maintain their muscle mass and reserve energy during their journeys, the BioSuit’s efficacy will be obvious immediately.
