NASA's new spacesuit

[Crisp]

NASA's new spacesuit

 

 

The July 21, 1969, headline of the New York Times read, "MEN WALK ON MOON."

But had Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin not been wearing their fancy A7L spacesuits when they stepped off the Eagle, readers would probably have woken up to "WELL, THAT GOT MESSY."

 

To be fair, I don't actually know what happens if an astronaut ventures out into space wearing, say, blue jeans and a Mexican Baja hoodie, but if cartoons have taught me anything -- and God knows they have -- it's that people tend to explode.

So that's exactly what would happen. Cartoons don't lie.

Of course, the Apollo 11's original A7L spacesuit was a technological achievement for its time. But like all things NASA, it was a constant work in progress, and four missions later when Apollo 15 blasted off for (I think) Pittsburgh, astronauts began wearing the A7LB.

See what they did there? They added a B.

Most notably, among some other minor changes, the A7LB provided more waist mobility for sitting in the rovers. But it was also probably just as difficult to change your socks.

"Yo, Buzz, a little help here."

Since the Apollo missions, spacesuits have continued to change and advance, always reaching for the limits of science and imagination. Though, I am holding back a certain amount of praise for NASA until they finally engineer a loose-fitting space Snuggie.

I mean, what's the point of going into the cosmos if you have to wear pants?

Today, NASA is once again deep into developing a whole new spacesuit, and this time, you actually get to help decide the design.

But just the appearance. Not any of the technical specs. That would just be reckless.

"It needs a beer holder! For your beer! Roll Tide!"

 

On Monday, voting started on the new Z-2 spacesuit. Participants can choose between three design models, all of which are so futuristically ridiculous that they are simply amazing. I love them.

The new spacesuits are a direct improvement to the current prototype Z-1, which had a soft upper torso. The Z-2 is made of state-of-the-art hard composite, perfect for cage fighting on Mars. Which is probably the first thing we'll do with the Red Planet after we put up a Wal-Mart.

The Z-2 is also the first spacesuit to use 3-D laser scanning and 3-D printing.

 

Cast your vote here

 

Source and more

[DocM]

Space.com article here,

http://www.space.com/25231-nasa-z2-spacesuit-tech-design-vote.html

Note the "suit port". This lets the suit be mounted to the outside of a rover or spacecraft while allowing the user to enter from the inside. Basically, the suit acts as its own airlock. It also keeps fine dirt and powdered regolith, mostly fine glass fragments on the Moon, from getting into the habitats. A very big deal.

[Torolol]

is the new bubble helmet can filter the cosmic radiation?

[DocM]

Not really, but the greater risk is solar radiation - especially after a strong solar flare or coronal mass ejection.

It looks like the best shields against those will be habitats with water or gels in the walls, certain polymer shields (which also have lots of hydrogen) and electromagnetic/electrostatic/plasma based shields.

Yes, NASA and ESA are working on energy based shields.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/27/world/europe/star-trek-shield/

[HawkMan]

I like how they give each of the technically identical suits different technical descriptions :)

[DocM]

Government agencies are great at making distinctions where there are no differences.