NASA decides on crowdsourced Tron look for Mars Z-2 spacesuit. It's smooth, futuristic, and glows blue-but does it come with a fancy disc?
NASA announced today that it has finalized the look for its new Mars-bound Z-2 space suit. The design was selected by the public in a vote, and the winning design was one of three showcased by the agency.
The new suit is the latest in NASA's Z-series of suits. These are a far cry from the simple pressure suits worn by the Mercury astronauts in the 1950s-today's suits aren't so much suits as person-shaped spaceships. The Z-series suits are being designed to function both in space and also on the ground on other worlds, most notably the moon and Mars. The major design focuses of the Z-series, and the Z-2 in particular, are mobility and ease of use. Since the earliest days of space travel, suited astronauts needed to cope with the tremendous physical burden of working inside what is essentially a rigid pressurized balloon; an air-filled space suit resists bending, and multi-hour spacewalks can be exhausting. Future suits like the Z-series try to help out their occupants with new materials and clever joint designs, not to mention by allowing astronauts to vary their pressurization level.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 02 2014, @10:43AM
How much was the choice influenced by the names, rather than the looks? I mean, "technology" certainly seems most apt for a space suit.
(Score: 2) by black6host on Friday May 02 2014, @10:46AM
That suit is fugly. I mean really. They had to look no further than Buzz Lightyear for a sharp looking suit. I mean, I liked Tron and all but that suit reminds me of a really fat version of the Tron guy. Achhhh!
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Friday May 02 2014, @11:33AM
Did someone say fat version of the Tron guy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3609OtM138c [youtube.com]
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 3, Insightful) by wonkey_monkey on Friday May 02 2014, @11:35AM
http://www.listoid.com/image/26/list_2_26_20101214 _091301_715.png [listoid.com]
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YWQ6Y-c7Ico/UFzuR3u6BbI/ AAAAAAAAH0g/G5a9_ZPLVhY/s1600/The+Dune+Storybook+4 .jpg [blogspot.com]
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 02 2014, @12:25PM
Some of the pictures on NASA's website for this very suit are radically different looking, even while they advertise this contest on their website. Why?
NASA says this suit, as it appears, will not be used in flight even after the non-flight phase completes, and using it on the ground may preclude some of the aesthetic choices so it may look quite different. Soooo....why waste our time with spending all our taxpayer money on this contest NASA?? Oh that's right, NASA just loves marketing and press releases that will "change the world" that actually amount to nothing just to remind people NASA exists. The USA needs to take Putin's advice and start using trampolines to get to the space station since the US government isn't capable, and NASA is a shining example. Very sad. :(
(Score: 2) by Covalent on Friday May 02 2014, @12:43PM
...who looked at this and thought...Pakleds?
http://www.eskimo.com/~bpentium/pakleds/pakled02.j pg [eskimo.com]
These suits will make us go.
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.
(Score: 2) by oodaloop on Friday May 02 2014, @01:15PM
I'm just blown away. The resemblence of this suit to Tron is simply canny.
Many Bothans died to bring you this comment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 02 2014, @03:05PM
A standard US pilot, as per FAA regulations, is 170 pounds. This thing looks like it's designed for 200+.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 02 2014, @03:55PM
Gravitation on Mars is lower. Therefore you have to be fatter to counter the effect. ;-)