Until April 15, all Internet users are invited to enter the specific page created by the American agency and vote for one of the three Z-2 spacesuit prototypes jointly conceived by NASA, the ILC Dover company and design students. from the University of Philadelphia.
The difference between them is their outer layer , which, in addition to protecting the astronaut from tears and scratches, gives a slightly different look, always in a futuristic line that will dazzle lovers of science fiction and video games . And that’s where everyone’s taste comes in.
In the rest, the prototypes subjected to internet democracy – called Biomimicry, Technology and Trends in Society – are technically the same , and come to replace the previous Z-1, which in certain aspects had become outdated.
Among other improvements, the Z-2 is easier to put on and take off, it is more intended for future missions with gravity on Mars , for example. In addition, for the first time 3D scanners and printers have been used in order to adjust it more finely to the astronaut’s body.
At the moment, 65% of the more than 80,000 people who have already voted have opted for the prototype Technology , which according to a NASA spokesperson, is loosely inspired by the suits of the Apollo missions. One difference is obvious: its light-emitting patches, incorporated so that the space traveler is recognized from a distance by his companions.
Biobimicry also has a luminescent wire on top that lights up in the dark, in the image and likeness of the abyssal creatures of the oceans. Finally, the model Trends in Society is postulated as the sports or casual clothing of the future. It is the one that least convinces voters.
On April 30, the winning design will be announced, which will begin to be manufactured, as planned by NASA, in the month of November . Then it will pass the rigorous controls in hostile environments, vacuum chambers, swimming pools and scenarios that simulate Martian geography.
