RISD students work with NASA on space suit

PROVIDENCE – Two Rhode Island School of Design students led by professor Michael Lye have designed a full-scale, wearable model of a NASA space suit, WLNE-TV ABC 6 reported Dec. 5. 

The suit weighs about 50 pounds and is made to be fully functional in a Mars simulation environment.

Using NASA specifications, designers worked with scientists to try to make the design more comfortable, wearable and adjustable.

“In terms of NASA, we wanted to make sure what we were designing mirrored a space suit accurately,” said Lye.

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In 2017, the suit will undergo rigorous testing at the NASA-sponsored Mars simulation in Hawaii.

The lessons learned from these model suits will help NASA engineers tweak their designs for when they hope to send humans to Mars in 2030. •

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