Advanced spacesuits will lead the way for future lunar and Martian explorers

• Apollo 17's Jack Schmitt is shown hard at work on the Moon in this 1972 image.
• The image at the top of the page depicts an astronaut wearing a mechanical counter-pressure (MCP) suit outfitted for extreme Martian exploration.
• Suit elements in order of donning are: (1) comfortable elastic bio-suit layer; (4) hard torso shell; and (5) portable life support system that attaches mechanically to the hard torso shell, and provides gas counter pressure.
• Future space explorers may apply a "spray-on" second skin, an organic, biodegradable layer offering protection in extremely dusty planetary environments.
• Incorporated into the second skin will be electrically actuated artificial muscle fibers to enhance human strength and stamina.
• Research is under way at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a Bio-Suit System that incorporates a suit designed to augment a person's biological skin by providing mechanical counter-pressure.
• The Bio-Suit System could embody communications equipment, biosensors, computers, even climbing gear for spacewalks or what NASA calls an Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA).
• "When we get back to the Moon and on Mars, we're not going there to stay in a habitat," said Dava Newman, professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems here at MIT.
• The study is multi-pronged and is intended to better calibrate astronaut performance, explore improvements to current spacesuit designs and generate novel ideas for a new generation of space exploration suits.
• Newman said that the spacesuits of today are very limited in terms of mobility.
• In addition, the current weight or mass of EVA suits is another limiting factor.
• The MIT group has investigated unique modeling techniques, such as taking 3D laser scans of a person.
• Then, using mathematical modeling and mechanics techniques, a "stress-strain field calculation" is performed for the entire human body.