Spacesuits 2.0: The Silent Battle Against Moon Dust and Microbes!
As humanity prepares to make giant leaps in space exploration, the spacesuits designed for astronauts are undergoing revolutionary changes.
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The European Space Agency (ESA) has embarked on an ambitious project called PExTex, aiming to assess textiles suitable for future spacesuit designs.
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The Apollo missions highlighted some of these challenges when moon dust compromised the spacesuits' outer layers within hours.
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The PExTex project, led by France's Compagnie Maritime d’Expertises (COMEX), is exploring novel textiles like the high-strength Twaron material.
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As ESA materials and processes engineer Malgorzata Holynska points out, washing spacesuit interiors consistently on the Moon or other celestial bodies might not be feasible.
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The BACTeRMA team, in collaboration with the Vienna Textile Lab, is exploring 'secondary metabolites' produced by microbes.
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NASA's spacesuits designed for the ISS are not suitable for lunar or marine terrains
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If the ISS remains functional until 2028, the shortage of spacesuits will become a pressing issue.
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The future of spacesuits appears promising with companies like Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace at the helm, focusing on antimicrobial materials.
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