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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 […]
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 […]
What to wear to Mars
July 24th, 2015
For human space missions beyond low-Earth orbit the logistical burden is at least twice as great compared to missions in low-Earth orbit. Take, for instance, a trip to Mars, which is being planned by NASA to occur sometime in the 2030s. For this type of long duration mission there will be limited or no resupply […]
Space technologies, sportswear benefits
June 19th, 2015
The Space industry has captured the human imagination and impacted design—and our culture—since the beginning of the last century. Not all depictions have been realistic. In Fritz Lang’s 1929 silent film The Girl in the Moon, astronauts are depicted wearing knitted cardigans for their journey! In reality mobility and working outside the spaceship necessitated […]
Keeping it cool in space
June 5th, 2015
Specialized textiles play an important role in thermal control for an evolving aerospace marketplace. Where there are flights, space missions and satellites, there are advanced textiles. For composites used in aircraft engines, multi-layer insulation (MLI) blankets for launch support and satellites, or—of course—space wear for participants of manned space exploration, textiles and textile components are […]