Word: biosuit
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...WORKS The clingy BioSuit compresses the body to protect it from the strong vacuum of space. For almost 40 years, NASA has relied on gas pressurization, which uses force to create an Earth-like atmosphere within the suit...
WHAT TO THINK The BioSuit isn't quite ready for takeoff. Researchers expect it will take about 10 more years to work out all the kinks--hopefully in time for a Mars debut...
...have been lumbering around space in the same heavy, energy-sapping suits - and that is what Dava Newman, professor of aeronautics, astronautics and engineering systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wants to change. Newman and her team of researchers have just unveiled a promising new prototype called the BioSuit: a sleek, white, clingy outfit, whose revolutionary design has the potential to make astronauts feel as agile and au courant as Spider...
...suits roll out, each one will be tailored to the individual astronaut and slipped on like a snug wetsuit - a "second skin," says Newman. One kink she's still trying to work out: figuring out a way for the suits to sustain enough counter pressure. 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...
Aside from its more appealing profile and wearability, Newman says, the BioSuit will likely be safer for astronauts than the old-style suits. Currently, when an astronaut's suit is punctured, he or she has to go back to the base to undress and decompress. With the new suits, astronauts could simply slap a patch over the tear. The BioSuit also provides a level of resistance that helps the body maintain muscle mass, since astronauts lose about 40% of their brawn during space travel. So, if the suit doesn't end up making it to Mars, researchers say it could...
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