Home / News / Aurora to develop S3 concept for NASA

Aurora to develop S3 concept for NASA

09 Feb '10

2 min read

Aurora Flight Sciences announced that it has been awarded a contract by NASA to develop an EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) Space Suit Simulator (S3). Aurora is partnered with Professors Dava Newman and Jeffrey Hoffman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics for this effort.

The S3 will be a low-profile, lightweight, and adjustable garment, and will mimic the properties of NASA's current space suit, the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). For training and experimentation purposes, it is often quite impractical for the astronaut or test subject to don an actual space suit due to: (1) limited availability of EMUs, and (2) bulkiness/heaviness. The motivation behind developing the S3 is to provide a means for suited astronaut training and research, without requiring an actual space suit.

Most of the properties that effect locomotion and movement are concentrated in the suit joints. "Our wearable space suit simulator will emulate the joint torques of the current EVA suit, while also being compact in form-factor and easily donned/doffed, so that it can be used in various training and simulation environments," said Dr. Jessica Duda, Aurora's Principal Investigator for the project. "Tunable joint torques will also allow the S3 to be used to test future space suit concepts." During Phase 1, Aurora will demonstrate the feasibility of several joint designs, and develop a concept for the complete S3 device.

Aurora Flight Sciences

Clothing Textiles

Leave your Comments

RECOMMENDED

US’ Albany International completes acquisition of Heimbach Group
Clothing Textiles

Germany’s Freudenberg receives Material Health certification
Clothing Textiles

Tex-Tech to invest $24 mn on textile factory in Winston-Salem
Clothing Textiles

US’ Burlington showcases bio-based fabric with stretch yarn tech
Clothing Textiles

US’ Voormi unveils next generation of Core Construction technology
Clothing Textiles

Sweden’s Polygiene & MP Activewear launch high-performance fabrics
Clothing Textiles

Canadian retailer Frank And Oak launches waterproof smart collection
Clothing Textiles

US’ Acteev & Coalatree launch Suray Sun Shirt at Outdoor Retailer
Clothing Textiles

Aurora to develop S3 concept for NASA

Leave your Comments

Weekly technical textiles newsletter

ABOUT TECHNICAL TEXTILES

Main LINKS

Quick Links

Follow us