Materials and Textile Architecture Analyses for Mechanical Counter-Pressure Space Suits using Active Materials

• Main Authors: Buechley, Leah (Contributor), Newman, Dava (Contributor), Holschuh, Bradley T. (Contributor), Obropta, Edward W. (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division (Contributor), Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2013-10-29T13:25:57Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

Mechanical counter-pressure (MCP) space suits have the potential to improve the mobility of astronauts as they conduct planetary exploration activities. MCP suits differ from traditional gas-pressurized space suits by applying surface pressure to the wearer using tight-fitting materials rather than pressurized gas, and represent a fundamental change in space suit design. However, the underlying technologies required to provide uniform compression in a MCP garment at sufficient pressures for space exploration have not yet been perfected, and donning and doffing a MCP suit remains a significant challenge. This research effort focuses on the novel use of active material technologies to produce a garment with controllable compression capabilities (up to 30 kPa) to address these problems. We provide a comparative study of active materials and textile architectures for MCP applications; concept active material compression textiles to be developed and tested based on these analyses; and preliminary biaxial braid compression garment modeling results.
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (OCT Space Technology Research Fellowship Grant NNX11AM62H)
MIT-Portugal Program