Internet users and space enthusiasts are about to come one step closer to deciding the future of space travel. NASA is using the crowdsourcing power of the Web to help to pick the final cover layer design for its next generation spacesuit, and you can vote online until April 15. <\/p>\n
More than 83,000 people had already cast their votes as of Wednesday morning on three prototypes, designed jointly by NASA engineers, suit manufacturer ILC Dover and design students from Philadelphia University. <\/p>\n
All three candidates are equally as trendy in form and function, but ultimately only one cover layer will be built to go over the Z-2 prototype spacesuit, which NASA spokesman Dan Huot said will be more mobile and can be put on and taken off more easily than the previous Z-1 suit. <\/p>\n
Where the bulky, white spacesuits worn by astronauts for the last 30 years have worked well on previous missions where youre floating around, theres no gravity and you dont have to worry about weight,\" the old suits \"won't work very well\" on planet surfaces where there's gravity, such as Mars, Huot told ABC news. <\/p>\n
Weve always known we need a different suit for when we get on Mars, Huot said. <\/p>\n
Astronauts' Space Suits Through The Years <\/p>\n
What people are actually voting on is not the spacesuit itself but the cover layer, which serves to protect the layers underneath from snags and abrasions. <\/p>\n
So far, the most popular is the Technology cover layer, which has received almost 65 percent of votes, said Huot. <\/p>\n
The Technology one looks a lot like an old Apollo suit. It kind of has that same general look, except with the addition of the light emitting patches, Huot said. Luminex wire and light-emitting patches on the upper torso will make it easier for astronauts to identify their fellow space walkers, but they \"may or may not be incorporated in the final design,\" Huot said. <\/p>\n
NASA <\/p>\n
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NASA Crowdsources New Spacesuit Design<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Internet users and space enthusiasts are about to come one step closer to deciding the future of space travel. NASA is using the crowdsourcing power of the Web to help to pick the final cover layer design for its next generation spacesuit, and you can vote online until April 15. More than 83,000 people had already cast their votes as of Wednesday morning on three prototypes, designed jointly by NASA engineers, suit manufacturer ILC Dover and design students from Philadelphia University Continue reading