NASA team tests spacesuit for mission on Mars
Source: Agencies |
March 23, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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A NASA team has tested a spacesuit in a setting with extreme conditions akin to some of those found on Mars - an Argentine base in Antarctica - for possible use on a visit to the Red Planet.
The NDX-1 spacesuit, designed by Argentine aerospace engineer Pablo de Leon, endured frigid temperatures and winds of more than 75 kilometers per hour as researchers tried out techniques for collecting soil samples on Mars. "This was the first time we took the suit to such an extreme, isolated environment so that if something went wrong we couldn't just go to the store" and buy a repair kit, de Leon said on return from the one-week expedition.
The US$100,000 prototype suit, created with funds from the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is made out of more than 350 materials, including tough honeycomb Kevlar and carbon fibers to reduce its weight without losing resistance.
During the "Mars in Marambio" mission, named after the Argentine air force base, a team of NASA scientists went on simulated spacewalks, operated drills and collected samples while wearing the gear.
De Leon himself wore the pressurized suit, which he said was bound to make anyone feel claustrophobic with its helmet and built-in headset for communicating with the outside world.
The researchers chose Marambio because compared with other Antarctic bases, they had easier access to permafrost, or soil that stays frozen most of the year.
De Leon, who heads the spacesuit laboratory at the University of North Dakota in the United States, said Antarctica was ideal for sample collection as it is one of the least contaminated places on Earth and will also give clues about the suit's impact.
The NDX-1 spacesuit, designed by Argentine aerospace engineer Pablo de Leon, endured frigid temperatures and winds of more than 75 kilometers per hour as researchers tried out techniques for collecting soil samples on Mars. "This was the first time we took the suit to such an extreme, isolated environment so that if something went wrong we couldn't just go to the store" and buy a repair kit, de Leon said on return from the one-week expedition.
The US$100,000 prototype suit, created with funds from the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is made out of more than 350 materials, including tough honeycomb Kevlar and carbon fibers to reduce its weight without losing resistance.
During the "Mars in Marambio" mission, named after the Argentine air force base, a team of NASA scientists went on simulated spacewalks, operated drills and collected samples while wearing the gear.
De Leon himself wore the pressurized suit, which he said was bound to make anyone feel claustrophobic with its helmet and built-in headset for communicating with the outside world.
The researchers chose Marambio because compared with other Antarctic bases, they had easier access to permafrost, or soil that stays frozen most of the year.
De Leon, who heads the spacesuit laboratory at the University of North Dakota in the United States, said Antarctica was ideal for sample collection as it is one of the least contaminated places on Earth and will also give clues about the suit's impact.
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