The Spacesuit Designed For A New Generation

Clement Balavoine might just be what Elon Musk ordered. The Frenchman is still only 25 years old, passionate about design, traveled the (fashion) world and gravitates towards his own Mars experience with his new company Neuro. In his own words, he wants to create a label that reflects the future of the industry.

SpaceX on the other hand, is looking for innovation on so many levels on their ongoing mission to establish our first Mars colony. To get there, Elon Musk proposed the so-called Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) that combines our latest rocket technology with a space-carrier able to ship at least 100 but hopefully close to 200 passengers on each flight.

Of course, getting to Mars is an adventure that needs problem-solving skills and technology that we might not even think of yet. To better be safe than sorry, Balavoine’s new kind of spacesuit comes in handy, destined to protect our pioneering crew from bone loss, muscle atrophy and, hopefully, radiation.

The trip might only take 80 to 115 days depending on departure and rendezvous time, but life in such a microgravity environment is absolutely hard on the body.

Mars imagery credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

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Humans are not able to adapt to life in space easily and probably never will unless we do start some gene editing. As of now, we can only do so much to prevent the loss of bones and muscles and counter the enormous effects literally changing our hearts and minds up there.

Therefore, moving in space has become the most important aspect of Balavoine’s space-suit. The design is supporting and stimulating the muscle groups identified as the main driver to keep human’s structural integrity up, too. The suit will energize the whole musculoskeletal system, preventing bones from becoming ever so brittle by incorporating electroactive fibers already used in sport and for rehabilitation.

What sounds like a heavily padded suit is in fact more of an exoskeleton tightly wrapping around the body. According to Balavoine, a 3d body scan will be used to x-ray every astronaut and tailor the suit to the respective body. Even the helmets will be adapted accordingly to get the ultimate outdoor experience.

This package is looking remarkably and shows how the branches of technology should work together in order to shoot humanity into space and beyond.