
Vote on NASA's Z-2 Suit Design - lclemente
http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/z2/
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nicpottier
I can already hear all the complaints about having the public weigh in on
this, and even on the waste of organizing it, but I think this is a pretty
brilliant move on the part of Nasa.

There's far too little to 'inspire' kids anymore and I imagine far fewer kids
saying they want to be astronauts. This does the double duty of involving the
public even in a tiny way and of hopefully coming up with a design that moves
people a bit as well.

Both good things in my book.

~~~
tsumnia
As much as I like this as a way to get kids interested, and I know that NASA
couldn't offer massive fundamental design differences to an uneducated public
(just not knowing what is safe), I was hoping for a little more than what
pattern the LED lights appear on the suit. Designs 1 and 3 look like glow
bracelets stitched into the suit, and the [as of this post] current winner is
just modeled after Tron.

That said, I'd donate a month's paycheck if they remodeled it to use Buzz
Lightyear's color scheme and design.

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cwal37
In case people comment without scrolling to the bottom and reading the FAQ:

"Is the design that is selected going to fly to space?

No, as the Z-series is still in the prototype or non-flight phase. The cover
layer of a non-flight suit, which is used for ground-based testing, serves as
abrasion/snag protection, a cover for technical details, and to a lesser
extent, aesthetics. For a flight suit which is actually used for a spacewalk,
the cover layer performs many other important functions such as
micrometeorite, thermal and radiation protection. These requirements drive
selection of specific high-performance materials and design details that would
preclude us from using many of the features you see in these options for the
Z-2 suit. "

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pekk
I liked the way the old suits' exteriors looked so much better than any of
these ideas. Even the Z-1 they show at the top of the page is so, so much
better.

As often happens, an instance of designers mistaking their own taste for
something that everyone will see as better.

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Tobani
To infinity and beyond?

[http://wordlesstech.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/12/NASAs-Z-1...](http://wordlesstech.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/12/NASAs-Z-1-new-Spacesuit-1-640x430.jpg)

~~~
chadillac
It bums me out this isn't an actual option for the vote, I thought the same
thing as soon as I saw it and got very excited to place my vote, only to find
it wasn't an actual option.

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c54
What about fast-tracking the skin tight futuristic one being worked on at MIT?

[http://www.businessinsider.com/dava-newmans-skintight-
spaces...](http://www.businessinsider.com/dava-newmans-skintight-spacesuit-
could-be-nasas-future-2013-12)

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izzydata
I am disappointed that they are all the same and they all look pretty bad.

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MrBuddyCasino
I saw a pretty fly space suit at the top of the page. I saw some very
disappointing things that looked like a 12 year old made them with duct tape.
I got to choose between those disappointments. I then read that these won't
even make it to space. I hereby conclude that this is a pretty bad PR move.

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fbomb
Why do they all look like the astronauts made the suits themselves out of duct
tape?

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JoeAltmaier
Suits should be personalizable, and vivid for search-and-rescue situations.
These grey camo styles are inappropriate. How do I vote 'none of the above'?

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catshirt
we're sending our best and brightest into space and making them wear _shorts
over their pants_?

~~~
jessaustin
They'll be prepared in case a hockey game breaks out.

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easymovet
Space has extremely high contrast light conditions due to the lack of
reflective materials in a vacuum, shadows have zero visible detail. To counter
act that effect you'd want an all white suit to help diffuse as much reflected
light as possible.

~~~
Guvante
> No, as the Z-series is still in the prototype or non-flight phase. The cover
> layer of a non-flight suit, which is used for ground-based testing, serves
> as abrasion/snag protection, a cover for technical details, and to a lesser
> extent, aesthetics. For a flight suit which is actually used for a
> spacewalk, the cover layer performs many other important functions such as
> micrometeorite, thermal and radiation protection. These requirements drive
> selection of specific high-performance materials and design details that
> would preclude us from using many of the features you see in these options
> for the Z-2 suit.

Basically this is just them allowing people to have impact on what the next
iteration looks like, not what the actual suit will look like.

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cheald
If we're gunning for aesthetics, with a little dye and some extra lighting,
that first one might be a decent Garrus approximation.

[http://silentstephi.com/Misc/garrus14.png](http://silentstephi.com/Misc/garrus14.png)

~~~
jeffcox
I don't think they'll be doing that many calibrations in this suit.

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heywire
Is anyone else missing the text from the page? Chrome 33.0.1750.154 m, no
extensions.

[http://i.imgur.com/a7lfdrY.png](http://i.imgur.com/a7lfdrY.png)

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soperj
Completely PR. Design can't even be used in space.

~~~
Aloisius
$4.4 million has been spent to manufacture and test it. Seems like it that's a
stretch too far for PR from NASA.

Why couldn't it be used in space?

~~~
TallGuyShort
They themselves say so: "requirements drive selection of specific high-
performance materials and design details that would preclude us from using
many of the features you see in these options for the Z-2 suit"

~~~
benkillin
That quote is referring to the outer layer of the suit only. This vote appears
only to be voting on the outer protective layer of the suit while testing is
being conducted on earth, and the outer layer will be replaced for actual
space use.

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skorgu
Sigh: The process cannot access the file 'D:\JSCFeatures\z2\Default.aspx'
because it is being used by another process.

~~~
garrettgrimsley
Didn't see any cached copies, so here is this:
[http://i.imgur.com/6o5rBLV.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/6o5rBLV.jpg)

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puppetmaster3
Why do we need manned missions, is there something a drone can't do?

~~~
PhasmaFelis
React intelligently in real time five light-minutes from Earth.

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relampago
Why are aliens wearing them?

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robertfw
aka, "hey this el wire stuff is pretty cool!"

~~~
andrewmunsell
Though, I thought EL Wire (at least, the stuff consumers can get their hands
on) is sensitive to UV light and leaving it in the sunlight (in the Earth's
atmosphere!) reduces its lifespan. Space would be the wrong place for that
stuff, assuming that they haven't taken this into account.

EDIT:

Looks like the suit is for ground testing only, though this would still apply
if they're using it in the sunlight.

