The Astronaut's New Clothes

Metox writes: "An article posted on www.sciam.com gives a glimpse into the future of space clothing for use in hostile environments, Earth orbit, Mars, etc. Of all the facts in the article, the one I found most interesting is that the current EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) suit is an astonishing 24 years old. However, the article gives a good reason for this. As the EVA suit is used in a microgravity environment, mobility isn't as important, and dexterity can be enhanced by simple changes to the arms and hands. The article highlights the current tests of two new EVA/Mars contenders, the I-Suit and the H-Suit."

Comments

Re:Skin-tight suits

[jinx90277]

The three main factors which cause spacesuits to be thick, bulky items:

1. Cooling. Spacesuits have a liquid cooling system as one of the innermost layers to keep heat from building up rapidly (and fatally) inside the suit. There is obviously a limit to how small those capillaries can be and still be effective.
2. Puncture resistance. The danger of suit integrity being compromised after falling or rubbing against rocks is something to consider. There is also the danger of being struck by a micro-meteorite, although it would be somewhat less likely on Mars than on the Moon.
3. Radiation resistance. Outside of the Earth's atmosphere, radiation intensity increases tremendously. Although some materials are better at stopping high-energy particles than others, they are also more dense, which defeats the idea of a skintight suit.

Also, don't forget features such as waste removal which add to suit size, though conceivably storage for that could be integrated into a backpack or other external unit.

Re:Skin-tight suits

[Chagrin]

More information regarding the suit is available at the Hamilton Sundstrand site: http://www.hsssi.com/SystemSolutions/protectivesui t.html