One of the coolest things at the AMNH’s Beyond Planet Earth exhibition is the next-generation spacesuit, made of a stretchy fabric made of spandex, nylon and a new substance that will eliminate baggy suits forever. Skinny is in in space.
It’s called the BioSuit. It would be able replace the current baggy spacesuits because of a new patented polymer that replaces compressed air. This doesn’t only make them lighter than its current counterparts, but much more manoeuvrable. More importantly, they are able to maintain overall pressure if they are torn. Only one area would be exposed to depressurisation, which is not dangerous to the astronaut’s life.
Each of them would be custom-fitted using a full body laser scanner, according to its creator, MIT aeronautics and astronautics professorDava Newman. At last, astronauts will look like astronauts were supposed to look to begin with: like sleek heroes rather than heroes in a microwave oven bag.
You can visit Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. If you live outside of New York, don’t worry, there’s plenty of time to come: the exhibit spans from November 19 to August 12, 2012.