TEXTILES.ORG
The aerospace market
July 12th, 2019
As NASA sets a course for Mars and a return to the moon, and private companies engage in a new space race, textile companies find opportunities for high-performance fabrics and products. by Amy Goetzman When does a single lemon cost $2,000? When it’s in space. NASA reports that it costs about $10,000 in fuel to […]
In search of deep space textiles
February 12th, 2018
NASA needs textile manufacturing partners to support the success of future missions. While NASA still has its sights set on a Mars mission in the 2030s, a more imminent project is in the works. The Deep Space Gateway is a joint project between the U.S. and Russia to build a miniature space station in lunar […]
NASA’s BEAM textile module will stay on the ISS
December 20th, 2017
NASA has decided to keep the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) on the International Space Station (ISS). The textile module will stay attached to the ISS through 2020, or possibly longer. The ISS crew’s studies have shown that soft materials can perform as well as rigid ones for habitation volumes and that BEAM has performed […]
NASA develops alternative to pneumatic tire
December 15th, 2017
NASA has developed a super-elastic tire that may prove a viable alternative to the pneumatic tire. Created with future Mars missions in mind, the tires could also be used on Earth. The new tire is an evolution of the Apollo lunar ones and the spring tire invented by NASA’s Glenn Research Center and Goodyear. The […]
NASA program facilitates licensing of spinoffs
July 10th, 2017
The job of NASA’s Technology Transfer Program is to support NASA spinoffs, i.e., technologies originally developed to meet NASA mission needs that have been transferred by license to the public and now provide benefits as a commercial product or service. NASA says that its online licensing system, ATLAS, eases the application process by avoiding the […]
NASA develops greenhouse for Space
April 27th, 2017
Peggy Whitson has now broken the record for longest amount of time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut, with more than 534 days spent in the International Space Station. NASA scientists and agriculture researchers at the University of Arizona are now trying to answer how to feed people who spend even more time in […]
LAUNCH Nordic issues “Closing the loop” challenge
July 22nd, 2016
LAUNCH Nordic, invites applications for its Innovation Challenge 2016, a global call for innovators and entrepreneurs, companies and organizations to find solutions to this question: How can we, through new types of closed loop solutions or recycling technologies, shape a more sustainable future of materials and manufacturing? The partnership, hosted by IKEA Group, Novozymes, Kvadrat, […]
NASA announces winning concepts
March 17th, 2016
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has announced the winners of its Space Suit Textile Testing Challenge, managed for NASA by NineSigma and launched in October 2015 under the umbrella of the NASA Tournament Lab. The competition yielded innovative concepts for spacesuit testing that will be applicable on future space exploration missions, including the agency's […]
Fashion grounded, Space inspired
January 22nd, 2016
Grado Zero Espace A working fashion and technology partnership provides solutions for Space travel and opportunities for Earth-based endeavors. Survival in Space is a major challenge for textile and apparel designers as they look to develop materials and technologies to help humans travel, live and work in its extreme environment. Space industries such as the […]
Textiles in space
January 8th, 2016
The textile industry is called upon to help NASA prepare for its manned mission to Mars. Since the start of human spaceflight, the U.S. space program has faced many challenges in clothing astronauts. Survival inside a spacecraft needed to be addressed first. Historically, human space exploration started with modifications of high-altitude pressure suits, which were […]