July 17, 2007
Cool news on the spacesuit front. L.Riofrio reported back on the 4th about rather exciting developments in the area of true skinsuits.
Now Clark Lindsay has some additional links.
"A current prototype of the suit consistently exerts pressures of about 20 kilopascals on its wearer but newer models have reached pressures of up to 25 to 30 kilopascals, which is about one-third that of the Earth's atmosphere and the target for spaceworthy BioSuit, researchers said. A fully functional suit could be made ready for spaceflight in about 10 years, they added.
At the heart of the BioSuit is mechanical counter pressure, which uses tightly wrapped layers of material that are both flexible and protective to the astronaut inside. The suit's layers are wrapped in a meticulous fashion -- based on three-dimensional maps of the human body in motion -- to provide structural support while maintaining mobility, researchers said."
This could revolutionize EVAs and space travel in general.
(Giant space slugs and laser pistols still on drawing board)
Art is, of course, by the great Wally Wood from the cover of Weird Science Fantasy #11.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
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