Nasa Spacesuit Competition Winner Is 'Technology' Design, The Least Naff Of 3 Naff Entries

Nasa's Least Naff Design Wins Spacesuit Competition
Nasa

Nasa have announced the least naff of three naff options has been voted the winner in the least naff Z-2 Spacesuit design challenge.

The 'Technology' entry beat 'Biomimicry' and 'Trends in Society' taking 63% of the public vote.

The design will now become reality and will be tested in full vacuum conditions, in a pool and in a recreation of Mars at Nasa’s John Space Center in Houston.

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Nasa don't intend for this version of the Z-series suits to be used in space flights, instead they are a stepping stone in the evolution towards a design that will eventually - hopefully - take humans to Mars.

The space agency said in a statement: "NASA's Z-2 suit is the newest prototype in its next-generation spacesuit platform, the Z-series.

"With the agency laser focused on a path to Mars, work to develop the technologies astronauts one day will use to live and work on Mars has already begun.

"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 cover layer of a non-flight suit still performs an important function in ground-based testing. The cover protects the lower layers and technical details from abrasion and snags during testing. It also serves to provide the suit with an aesthetic appeal.

The cover layer on flight suits used for spacewalks performs many other important functions like protecting the spacewalker from micrometeorite strikes, the extreme temperatures in space and the harmful effects of radiation.

These requirements drive selection of specific high-performance materials and design details that aren’t necessary at this stage in a prototype suit.

Nasa said: "Engineers and scientists around the country are working hard to develop the technologies astronauts will use one day to live and work on Mars and safely return home from the next giant leap for humanity."

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