April 03, 2003
All Suited Up for Mars

Australian James Waldie, just back from a stint at the MDRS, is profiled in the Herald Sun.

I'd like to know more about this, though:

Mr Waldie has spent the past 18 months doing his PhD in aerospace engineering at RMIT, working on an experimental space suit known as MarsSkin.

"If you wear our simulation suit on Earth it is like wearing a real space suit on Mars."

Is he by chance referring to something along the lines of the space activity suit?

Posted by T.L. James on April 3, 2003 08:31 PM

Comments

I understand that during the Martian daytime, temps will be significantly higher at ground level (I think 50 degrees F) than 4-5 feet off the ground. Do any suit designs account for this differential? Is it significant?



Posted by: Carl Carlsson at April 7, 2003 11:08 PM

Good question. No one in my limited reading on the subject has dealt with it specifically.

In fiction, there is typically some attention paid to the feet (e.g.: Benford's "The Martian Race"), esp. keeping them isolated from the cold surface, but I don't recall the lower temperatures on the upper body and head being addressed. With the SAS, I believe the concept included a parka-like "over-garment", which could easily be insulated and/or heated with a bias towards the upper body.

It's certainly something to keep in mind when the time comes to design surface operations suits, but it doesn't seem like an insurmountable engineering problem.



Posted by: T.L. James at April 8, 2003 09:38 PM