Making Sci-Fi Reality
Even as NASA’s plans become more ambitious as years pass, the organization is still asking many of the same foundational questions about our area of space that it asked 50 years ago when Apollo 11 landed on the moon: What's out there? How do we get there? What will we find?
If NASA wants to get to the bottom of those questions in the next 50 years, especially as they relate to Mars and the moon, the next half-century of challenges require next-generation innovations.
The SmartSuit, a spacesuit designed by Texas A&M engineering professor Dr. Ana Diaz Artiles with planetary exploration of the moon and Mars in mind, incorporates soft robotics technology to address design and health risks associated with the current suit worn in space.
The suit, which will incorporate a soft and stretchable self-healing skin located in the outer layer that not only protects the astronaut, but also collects data, was recently selected for a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I grant.
If astronauts approach a hostile environment in space and need to deploy a C-3P0-style robotic assistant to investigate, they may someday thank Dr. Dezhen Song, who is working on a collaborative project with NASA’s Johnson Space Center to develop localization and mapping algorithms for a Robonaut to make better use of the crew’s time, and to perform dangerous tasks in lieu of a human.
When humans prepare to take their first steps on Mars, it could be due in no small part to TEES Eminent Professor Dr. Robert Skelton, who earlier this year wrapped up Phase II of his space habitat project funded through NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program.