NASA's New Spacesuit Design Looks Like Something From 'Tron'

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Image: NASA

By Samantha Murphy Kelly2014-05-01 17:48:43 UTC

As engineers and scientists work hard to build technologies that astronauts could one day use to live and work on Mars, the future of spacesuits is looking stylish too. Or at least, fittingly, like something out of a science-fiction movie.

NASA recently asked the public to vote on its next three generations of spacesuit prototypes, and it announced its first winner: the "technology" suit, a gray body with splashes of vibrant turquoise. The torso emits light so crew members can spot the wearer during dark spacewalks. The design resembles an outfit from the film Tron, while the previous suit took more of a Buzz Lightyear approach.

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The Z-2 design brought in more than 64% of the 230,000 public votes, and NASA said the design "pays homage to spacesuit achievements of the past while incorporating subtle elements of the future."

This is a project under NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Division, which pioneers the development of technologies for future human space missions.

Although the prototype won't be headed to space yet, it will undergo testing in similar environments and will likely be incorporated into the final version of the suit, which will be ready by November 2014. It will also be made using 3D-printed parts and incorporate human laser scans to fit each astronaut accordingly.

Each version of the suit in the Z-series aims to test technologies that will be used on Mars. Unlike the previous iteration (the Z-1 suit), it features a hard composite upper torso for durability; the Z-1's upper torso was soft.

"The cover layer on flight suits used for spacewalks performs many other important functions like protecting the spacewalker from micrometeorite strikes, the extreme temperatures in space and the harmful effects of radiation," NASA wrote in a press release. "These requirements drive selection of specific high-performance materials and design details that aren’t necessary at this stage in a prototype suit."

The boots are compatible with a full-vacuum environment and the covering protects against snags and abrasion, as well as high temperatures. You can find other spacesuit designs that didn't make the cut here.

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Topics: astronaut, NASA, Space, Tech