NASA Z-2 Spacesuit Unveiled: Space Agency Gives First Look at What Astronauts Will Wear on Mars
ByNASA has unveiled a prototype spacesuit to be worn in the first human visit to Mars.
According to BBC News, NASA said the Z-2 Spacesuit is only a prototype, but some of its features will make it to the final design. NASA held a public vote on three different designs and the "Technology" option won.
"'Technology' pays homage to spacesuit achievements of the past while incorporating subtle elements of the future. By using Luminex wire and light-emitting patches, this design puts a new spin on spacewalking standards such as ways to identify crewmembers," NASA wrote on the public voting website.
The Z-1, which NASA released in 2012, was identical to the suit worn by Buzz Lightyear in the "Toy Story" films, but Time named it the best invention of the year. The Z-2 will be custom fitted to each individual astronaut and will eventually be tested in a vacuum chamber, a testing pool and conditions mimicking the Martian surface.
"Each iteration of the Z-series will advance new technologies that one day will be used in a suit worn by the first humans to step foot on the Red Planet," the space agency said in a statement. "There are many key advances to be found in the Z-2 suit when compared to the previous Z-1. The most significant is that the Z-1 had a soft upper torso and the Z-2 has a hard composite upper torso. This composite hard upper torso provides the much-needed long-term durability that a planetary Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suit will require.
"The shoulder and hip joints differ significantly based on extensive evaluations performed during the last two years with the Z-1 to look at different ways of optimizing mobility of these complex joints. Lastly, the boots are much closer in nature to those that would be found on a suit ready for space, and the materials used on the Z-2 are compatible with a full-vacuum environment."