Morphing "spacesuit" can adjust on astronaut's body to ensure perfect fit

London, November 30 (ANI): In a new research, enginees have developed a new part-robotic spacesuit that has a morphing design, which makes it automatically adjust itself on the astronaut's body in seconds to ensure a perfect fit.

According to a report in New Scientist, the suit has been developed by engineers David Akin and Shane Jacobs at the University of Maryland in College Park.

Once an astronaut is inside the baggy suit, its upper torso contracts using pneumatic artificial muscles to ensure a perfect fit.

Its morphing design means it should be less unwieldy than today's suits and allow astronauts to be more efficient, both during spacewalks and in planetary exploration, Jacobs told the recent International Astronautical Congress in Daejong, South Korea.

"Our research shows that of the physical work astronauts actually do on a spacewalk, only one-quarter of it is mission related. The rest goes into just moving the spacesuit around," said Akin.

Robotic actuators are also being applied to the suit's gloves.ost of the physical work astronauts do on a spacewalk goes into just moving the spacesuit.

The researchers' "supersuit" also includes new visual aids in the form of stereo LCD spectacles and an in-helmet video screen.

The LCD glasses can show a user augmented reality imagery, for example, allowing an astronaut to see the position of a nearby spacecraft that's hidden from view. (ANI)