Jul 17 2007MIT designs sleek, skintight spacesuit
The folks at MIT have developed a new space suit to allow greater mobility for astronauts called the BioSuit. They expect to have it ready for use in about ten years, and it would be invaluable for missions to someplace like Mars, where current spacesuits are just too bulky.
Newman's prototype suit is a revolutionary departure from the traditional model. Instead of using gas pressurization, which exerts a force on the astronaut's body to protect it from the vacuum of space, the suit relies on mechanical counter-pressure, which involves wrapping tight layers of material around the body. The trick is to make a suit that is skintight but stretches with the body, allowing freedom of movement.Key to their design is the pattern of lines on the suit, which correspond to lines of non-extension (lines on the skin that don't extend when you move your leg). Those lines provide a stiff "skeleton" of structural support, while providing maximal mobility.
This thing looks like it was pulled out of a cartoon. If they actually get it to work it'll completely change the way I look at astronauts. Namely with more boners.
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Reader Comments
1. Nifty - July 17, 2007 2:09 PM
Definitely more boners... hahaha.
2. Manuel Gonzales - July 17, 2007 2:10 PM
1st
3. Dilligaf - July 17, 2007 2:31 PM
Now astronauts are going to be stuffing socks down their skin tight suits due to lack of self-confidence.
4. joflo - July 17, 2007 2:34 PM
awesome!! thanks for posting this. i read it on slashdot yesterday but didn't bother to look for a photo.
also, thanks to MIT for getting someone hott to model... rawr!
5. whoneedsenemies - July 17, 2007 2:42 PM
Looks like the Jane Fonda/Armegeddon nightmare I had the other night....
6. Rachel! - July 17, 2007 2:46 PM
rawr is right.... until they get someone who doesn't fit into the suits then it's kinda like 'awe....'
7. beest - July 17, 2007 3:32 PM
Isn't saying "in ten years we'll have a skin-tight spacesuit" exactly the same as saying "we have no fucking clue how to make a skin-tight spacesuit, but damn wouldn't that be awesome"? Because you don't have be MIT to say that. I could say that right now and not be lying one bit. I could probably even build one in my basement out of cardboard and latex gloves if I had 10 years to do it.
8. SuperStoned420 - July 17, 2007 4:00 PM
I'm sure most of you already know this though but you don't need to a pressure suit when your on the moon or mars. You'd need a suit that keeps you warm but in actual fact, you just need to be pressurized or de-pressurized like scientists who need to work deep underwater, they get pressurized and can swim in waters that would crush a normal human being who hasn't been pressurized.
If you have been (de)pressurized, you can walk on the moon/mars with nothing more than an oxygen supply and a few sweaters to keep yourself warm.
9. Darling Nicky - July 17, 2007 5:13 PM
Am I the only one who saw this and shouted, "ENDER'S GAME, OMG, ENDER'S GAME!!!!!!!!11"?
10. firehead - July 17, 2007 6:59 PM
SuperStoned420: Well, no and yes - you could walk on mars with a few hundred sweaters and an oxygen supply, but not the moon as it has no atmosphere - so no pressure.
11. RandomNigel - July 17, 2007 7:07 PM
Why green helmets?
12. buzz_clik - July 17, 2007 7:19 PM
The only thing missing from this rad outfit? A facehugger clinging to her helmet. That'd really set the whole ensemble off, for sure.
13. whoneedsenemies - July 17, 2007 9:56 PM
Newsflash:
I've found a way to make cell phones obsolete and all of our computers will be imbeded into our heads.
I'll let you know in 10 years, when it is completed....
LOL beest
14. An MIT aerospace student - July 17, 2007 11:52 PM
This will probably be good for space tourism as well
I really hope all these aerospace startups (Xcor, SpaceDev, Blue Origin, Armadillo, Arca, Virgin galactic, etc.) bring stuff to fruition. I want my goddamn moon vacation
15. RandomNigel - July 18, 2007 1:29 AM
#14, well....the first commercial flight to space has already been booked. The tickets sold for a million bucks apiece.
16. Trowzersgal - July 18, 2007 1:57 AM
re: the green helmet
If they're using it on Mars, they'll need something to counter all the glare and red light. Hence - green helmet.
17. KRiPPeR - July 18, 2007 2:23 AM
I already have a boner. It's like seeing my wet dream with Samus Zero suit.
18. T G Geko - July 18, 2007 8:01 AM
yea this is kidna old, Ive seen this in my pop sci magazine a few months ago. but hey, thanks for the current news!
19. gloompy - July 18, 2007 11:02 AM
This isn't an entirely new idea. There have been similar counter pressure suits for a while.
http://www.astronautix.com/craft/spaysuit.htm
20. An MIT aerospace student - July 18, 2007 11:45 AM
#15, I never said that there was no space tourism yet (Dennis Tito became the first commercial space tourist in 2001 when he paid $20 million for a ride on Soyuz)....all I said was that the suit could have potential for it...For example, if there is a loss of cabin pressure, a suit such as this one would act as a sort of life vest.
21. Superbad - July 18, 2007 2:12 PM
Space tourism? Thats weak. Space terrorism? BADASS.
22. Vahn M. - July 18, 2007 4:33 PM
MIT is the college I WANT to get into, but probably would fail bigtime if I tried.
This is fucking epic.
23. petro - July 21, 2007 1:48 PM
lolo.. eva.. hahaa
24. HotDogger - July 24, 2007 12:29 AM
Where did the geeks at MIT find such a hot model? Certainly not a student (not fat, don't see a unibrow) and since she isn't anime porn, not a student's girlfriend either... Hmm.. A poser..
25. sidney - July 24, 2007 5:20 AM
The model is prof. Dava Newman herself who is leading the space suit project at MIT.
26. The Ninja Trebuchet - August 6, 2007 3:58 PM
Sexy in space!
27. El Jefe - August 9, 2007 5:21 PM
Darling Nicky: Ender's Game? Why, does she look Mormon or something?
Boo to the "ten year" BS. Boo to the giant green helmet. Boo to the motorcycle boots. This group seems to just want to look cool, how is this anything other than a superficial art project? Someone seems to be in need of grant money...
Yay for space, though. It's kick-ass.
28. Canada Eh - August 16, 2007 5:47 PM
Hot Model? You guys are on crack.
29. Mike - August 18, 2007 12:52 PM
Yeah...not so much.
If I have to choose between looks and a suit that will protect me from being gutted by micrometeoroids or having my children turn out looking like Chelsea Clinton - only with more flippers - I'll take the tried and true, thanks.
30. Tom - October 7, 2007 12:27 PM
Does that mean astronauts can now wear some of their personal clothing over the space suits during missions
31. mkgreevey - December 4, 2007 12:26 PM
"also, thanks to MIT for getting someone hott to model... rawr!"
That's actually the prof who designed the suit. Yes, Professor Dava Newman is a woman. And I've seen her around, she's about average (which means hot for an MIT lady).