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Mars spacesuits to be tested in Oz desert


James Waldie compares a traditional spacesuit glove (left hand) with the new suits being developed for Mars (right hand) (Image: Jun Isobe)

Spacesuits for a Mars landing will be slim fitting and use electricity to mould to the human body, say scientists who are about to test a prototype in the Australian desert.

PhD student James Waldie from RMIT University in Melbourne will test the prototype spacesuit, called a MarsSkin suit, in the South Australian outback in August.

The tests at Arkaroola, more than 600 kilometres north of Adelaide, will be part of a Mars Society Australia project.

The tests form part of an international expedition to Central Australia to better understand living and working in Mars-like conditions.

Waldie said that spacesuits that astronauts would use on Mars would be tight and elastic. These would be more form fitting than the bulky "big gas-bag" ones used on the Moon.

Scientists conducting geological, biological and engineering research in the Central Australia desert will test the MarsSkin prototype.

"It will restrict physically people in Arkaroola in the same way they would be restricted on Mars," said Waldie.

Waldie is also working with the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute at the University of Wollongong to design another type of spacesuit.

These mechanical counter pressure (MCP) suits are closer to the kind of suits needed on Mars, as they use electricity to exert pressure on an astronaut's body.

This would be vital on Mars as the Red Planet has a much lower atmospheric pressure than Earth. Without the extra pressure the suits exert, astronauts would pass out.

"You wouldn't explode or freeze," said Waldi. "You would pass out in about 13 seconds as the oxygen would leach out of your body."

Waldie said he can't test the MCP suits directly at Arkaroola because no-one could wear them on Earth without feeling a pressure twice as great as astronauts would experience on Mars.

The MCP suits have electronic polymer fibres entwined in tight-fitting elastic material. Electricity running through the fibres loosens them so the suits are loose enough to slip on.

"[The spacesuit] looks like a big pair of pyjamas," Waldie told ABC Science Online. "Plug it into a wall and it gets loose so you can get in very easily. Unplug it and it contracts round you to the pressure you need to go outside on Mars."

Making a trial Mars suit

According to Brad Duffy, chief executive officer of Sydney company Compression Garment Technology Pty Ltd, or Skins CGT, MarsSkin will be made of an inner layer of lycra microfibres to transport heat and moisture away from the body. A tough outer layer protects the wearer from dust and heat.

The suits will also have sensors to monitor the wearer's hydration, temperature and heart rate.

The suits will come in male and female versions, Duffy said, but there were difficulties in fitting the suits around the breasts, genitals and under the arms.

"It's hard to have a functioning suit that allows you to stretch and move but maintains pressure against parts of the body that you imagine are hard to keep pressure against," said Duffy.

He added that each suit would be fully contained to "allow you to go to the toilet while you are wearing it".

Tags: environment, astronomy-space, computers-and-technology