MIT astronautics professor Dava Newman tries on her custom-fitted BioSuit, designed for exploration and work on Mars. The pattern of thick, semi-elastic polymer threads forms a support structure to counter the low pressure of other planets.
Until recently, astronauts rarely worried about what to wear — a standard gas-pressurized spacesuit was the only choice. But navigating Mars in a bulky 300-pound setup would be like doing gymnastics in a suit of armor. “They’re not going there to sit in the habitat,” says Newman. “They’ll have to work five to seven days a week.”
Newman has designed an alternative with enough flexibility to get the job done. Partially inspired by giraffe anatomy — the tall beasts use tight leg skin to help regulate blood pressure — the BioSuit relies on mechanical counterpressure instead of gas pressure. Every suit must be tailored to squeeze its owner.
I hope you don’t gain or loose any mass while out there or your presure suit will no longer fit. Or does it make up for small changes?
I also have to wonder how well this works on the parts of the body that are not easy to conform to. I mean I don’t know about you but I don’t think I was just my crotch to be missing the pressure it needs.
Gee, where I have see this idea before? Maybe 25 years ago from Jerry Pournelle?
maybe it’s inappropriate, but as this is designed by a woman, was there any mind paid to how the suit will fit the male anatomy?
I wonder if she’s read Kim Stanley Robinson’s *Red Mars*? The mechanical pressure system seems to be a pretty durn close fit for what Robinson had his first crew of colonists wearing.
Whether or not this is the case, it’s still a big improvement on the Stay-Puft look. I’m impressed, Prof!
Love the motorcycle back protector. I have one right here..
Is it only me or does this sound like an over priced, fancied up version of pressure suit our high performance fighter pilots currently wear only including a layer of air tight material?
C asks: “maybe it’s inappropriate, but as this is designed by a woman, was there any mind paid to how the suit will fit the male anatomy?
Obviously they have, and the conclusion they drew is that space will need to be colonized by women in skintight space suits. Turns out Erin Gray in Buck Rogers was more prescient than any of us thought.
Tough price to pay, but I’m not going stand in the way of scientific progress. No sir.
MMM MMM, Brains & beauty all in one suit!
Be a real plus going to Mars with a gal like that on the team. Unless of course there weren’t enough to go around. wonder what the radiation shielding on the suit is? Mars is HOT radiation wise. No atmospheric shielding OR magnetic field.
Hmmm.…first thing I thought when I saw this was “I can see why that picture was chosen.” Nice shot, but it would be interesting to see it from the front too if its that form fitting of an outfit. Anyways, it seems like a good idea, but probably got a long ways to go. It seems to only deal with the pressure issue and not much else. I mean with temperatures on mars down to –110F at surface level (-255F @ the poles) you’re going to need a good layer of insulation too, as well as some shielding from the radiation as Rivenburg states. This outfit seems it’ll just act as a nice pair of long underwear, not the main suit.
The link below will take you to additional pictures of the spacesuit. Once there, open image gallery on the right.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/biosuit-0716.html