The space shuttle program may be coming to its end, but NASA is already preparing for its next wave of next-generation spacesuits and helmets. Where might it be looking for new ideas? Snowboarding gear.
Yes, America's $19 billion space agency has zeroed on the possibility of integrating heads-up displays, originally developed for snowboarding goggles, into helmets that will be part of the next iterations of interstellar astronaut wear. NASA recently made a joint announcement with Vancouver-based Recon Instruments, which developed the headgear, that a custom rev of Recon's GPS-enabled, heads-up display-laden goggles will be part of the space organization's September field tests that will help determine how the next batch of astronauts see when they're out in the cosmos.
NASA's Scott Bleisath, who is coordinating the spacesuit info system redesign, said in a statement that Recon's gear initially caught NASA's attention because it "provided an opportunity to evaluate utilization of this display technology without the need of wearing a full spacesuit." He added that he and his fellow engineers have been "considering in-helmet displays for some time now," and that they feel Recon's R&D work to this point affords them a path "to collect early insights into how these displays might work in our future spacesuit designs.”
Specifically, Recon's goggles will be integrated into NASA's continuing field work with the Desert RATS initiative, which is exploring and studying a wide range of projects that may have critical applications with future missions to Mars and other destinations.
In the joint statement, Recon CEO Dan Eisenhardt said he hopes that his company's "direct-to-eye communications will be able to provide astronauts with information in real-time allowing for safer and more independent discovery by crewmembers, reducing the reliance on communication from others."
Indeed, when you're stuck tens of millions of miles away from Earth, you can't afford to have your com link suddenly go dead. With that connection, Recon hopes its role will be to keep all instrumentation within reach, so that astronauts afar will always be in touch.
Photos: Courtesy Recon Instruments
