News/Research

de Monchaux Quoted in Newsweek on Spacesuits

18 Jul, 2017

de Monchaux Quoted in Newsweek on Spacesuits

Newsweek picked Nicholas de Monchaux's brain on the different demands that spacesuit designers are grappling with as life on Mars becomes a greater possibility.

The article, published in early July, poses the two greatest priorities of space suit design: protection (can an astronaut explore various types of terrain?) and practicality (does the suit allow her to carry scientific equipment and perform everyday tasks?).

de Monchaux provided some spacesuit design history, telling Newsweek, “On July 21, 1969, only 21 layers of fabric, most gossamer-thin, stood between the skin of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and the lethal desolation of a lunar vacuum.”

Read more about what de Monchaux had to say about the past and future of exploring Mars.