The People Have Voted, and NASA's New Spacesuit Design Is Hot

[DLC]

Just because NASA has stopped flying manned space missions doesn’t mean it wants to stop developing the suit that will be used to walk on the moon. Last month, NASA asked the public to vote on three versions of its next-generation spacesuit design, the Z-2, and now it has a winner: “technology,” a gray uniform with glowing patches of turquoise on its upper and lower torso.

The new design, a subtle homage to spacesuits of yore, is a follow-up to 2012’s Z-1, a Buzz Lightyear-esque getup that won accolades, including being named one ofthe year’s best inventions by Time. It was also the first major overhaul of the spacewalking suit in about three decades, featuring a soft, flexible body for greater astronaut mobility.

This year the NASA team returned to the hard composite torso of previous iterations, finding in testing that the Z-1’s flexibility also created restrictions, such as a smaller allowable torso size. Such engineering details were worked out internally, but to decide on the surface details, the space organization turned to its patrons: American taxpayers. The winning design, dubbed “technology,” uses Luminex wire and light-emitting patches that could be customized to help identify individual crewmembers.

One of two runners-up, the 'biomimicry' design draws from an environment with many parallels to the harshness of space: the world's oceans.

 

[DLC]

The Z-2, which cost $4.4 million to develop, according to Wired, despite using 3D printing technologies that make prototyping quicker and cheaper. The suit combines a number of firsts: It’s the first “surface specific” mobility suit (in other words, it’s made for walking on the surface of the moon) to be tested in a full vacuum; it’s also the first time 3D-printed hardware has been used to develop a uniform with a resizable hard upper torso. It integrates a “suitport” on the back of its rigid shell, which allows astronauts to put on a suit hanging outside the spacecraft while still in the vehicle, then detach without debris entering and contaminating the interior.

STORY: Elon Musk Wants SpaceX to Replace Russia as NASA's Space Station Transport
Those functions were decided by the pros at NASA. But following the positive response to the Z-1, the agency acknowledged that innovative design can kick up interest in space exploration at a time when the cash-strapped organization’s mosthigh-profile projects have fallen victim to budget cuts. The Z-2 is still in the experimental phase and won’t be deployed. (Although the outer layer of the Z-2 can resist the abrasion and snags that occur in testing, it does not offer protection from the micrometeorites, heat, and radiation found in space.) It will instead be used to test new technologies in safer environments before being deployed in the field.

'Trends in society,' the other runner-up, is based on just that—being reflective of what everyday clothes may look like in the not too distant future.

http://www.businessweek.com/article...e-voted-and-nasas-new-spacesuit-design-is-hot

 

[DLC]

 

[sharkboy1200]

 

[Tommygun.]

Aaaand just like that I'm replaying the entire trilogy.

 

[IdleHands]

Aaaand just like that I'm replaying the entire trilogy.

Ya know, I never got far in ME3. Just couldn't drum up the interest and then I heard all the backlash about the piss poor ending(s). Still, I have $30 credit on amazon and they have the entire trilogy for $30. The only reason I haven't jumped at it is that I already own ME3 on Origin and I hate double dipping when I won't get any use out of the doubled dip.

 

[DLC]

Great, was thinking that myself first time I saw the design, great series, tho Mass Effect 2 for me the best one.

 

[Z A C K]

Our astronauts are going to look like Krogan... sweet.

 

[sharkboy1200]

Great, was thinking that myself first time I saw the design, great series, tho Mass Effect 2 for me the best one.

Aww s*** son! Fellow ME2 lover too! The game just had a unique aura about it that I just absolutely loved. Bit of a Seven Samurai style to it, mixed in with blade runner, plus the modern sensibilities of Star Trek/Wars.

 

[Tequila Shot]

It actually looks extremely corny.

 

[lowdru2k]

Aliens are gonna point and laugh

 

[BraddersTheDog]

I think it looks pretty sh*t actually.

 

[Smurfboy]

Hawt.