To support Mars exploration, new spacesuits must protect astronauts, supply air and water, and be flexible enough to allow for small required tasks like the digging of samples. Engineers from the University of North Dakota are evaluating new spacesuit design at Kennedy Space Center.
"'Suit' is really kind of a misnomer," said researcher Pablo De Leon. "Containing a human being into anything is very complex, so we have a spacesuit which is really a miniaturized spacecraft."
NASA’s Johnson Space Center designed and built two spacesuit prototypes, known as the Prototype Exploration Suite (PXS), for use in low- and zero-gravity, and the Z-2, which is testing mobility technology for surface exploration of Mars.
Using modern, lightweight materials, the NDX-1 is meant to be a self-contained machine that could protect astronauts from the cold Martian atmosphere and dust storms. With a rusty orange color and black ribbing, the prototype suit also is designed to let wearers drill into the surface to gather samples, excavate rocks, and generally conduct the first human explorations of the Red Planet.
After conducting tests throughout the American southwest and other desert areas, the researchers worked inside and outside the regolith bin at Kennedy Space Center's SwampWorks, an enclosed area filled with soil that is similar to that found on worlds other than Earth.
The tests at Kennedy will compare the NDX-1 suit and a second prototype that is somewhat heavier and moves a bit differently. Engineers want to see if the difference in designs tires the wearer, is perhaps too awkward for some work, or, in fact, functions substantially better.
Some of the funding for the University of North Dakota’s spacesuit research has been provided through NASA’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR, which establishes partnerships with government, higher education, and industry that are designed to effect lasting improvements in a state's or region's research infrastructure, research, and development capacity.
