Future of Engineering
Sunday, March 23, 2008
NASA Future Space Suits - Bio-suites for Pumpkin Suits, EMU?
In the coming months, NASA is due to select one team to provide the suit that astronauts will wear for the next series of giant leaps.
Currently, NASA astronauts use one type of suit during the space shuttle's launch and re-entry (the orange-colored get-up nicknamed the "pumpkin suit") and another type of suit for spacewalks (the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or EMU). Both are heavy stuff...Spacesuits are built to protect the body from the near-vacuum of space - and the traditional spacewalking suit does that through internal air pressurization. Currently, 70 to 80 percent of the energy expended by a spacewalker goes to bending the suit's joints against that pressure.
In contrast, the Biosuit does the same job through mechanical counterpressure. The result is a garment that provides a stiff skeleton while preserving much more of a person's mobility. Some experts figure that the Biosuit could be ready for prime time in 10 years.
Other groups such as Orbital Outfitters, are designing togs for suborbital space tourists - who wouldn't need the level of protection required for spacewalks or lunar surface operations.
More from here
Currently, NASA astronauts use one type of suit during the space shuttle's launch and re-entry (the orange-colored get-up nicknamed the "pumpkin suit") and another type of suit for spacewalks (the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or EMU). Both are heavy stuff...Spacesuits are built to protect the body from the near-vacuum of space - and the traditional spacewalking suit does that through internal air pressurization. Currently, 70 to 80 percent of the energy expended by a spacewalker goes to bending the suit's joints against that pressure.
In contrast, the Biosuit does the same job through mechanical counterpressure. The result is a garment that provides a stiff skeleton while preserving much more of a person's mobility. Some experts figure that the Biosuit could be ready for prime time in 10 years.
Other groups such as Orbital Outfitters, are designing togs for suborbital space tourists - who wouldn't need the level of protection required for spacewalks or lunar surface operations.
More from here
Labels: Aerospace-Engineering, Astronomy, Design-Engineering
PermaLink - NASA Future Space Suits - Bio-suites for Pumpkin Suits, EMU? posted by Ecacofonix : 6:20 AM
