Development of a mechanical counter pressure Bio-Suit System for planetary exploration

Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is critical for human spaceflight and particularly for human planetary exploration. The MIT Man Vehicle Laboratory is developing a Bio-Suit EVA System, based on mechanical counterpressure (MCP), that has the potential to maximize and even augment the EVA capabilities of future planetary explorers. This thesis describes the design and implementation of novel MCP concepts for the Bio-Suit System. Two concepts known as the detached bands and elastic bindings were initially developed and tested in ambient conditions on a human leg. The elastic bindings proved superior to the detached bands and demonstrated greater mobility, comfort and ease of donning than previous MCP garments. After refining the bindings design to improve the uniformity of its pressure distribution, five subjects donned bindings on one calf and exposed the suited calf to -30kPa (-225mmHg, -0.3atm) for up to an hour - a greater magnitude and longer duration of underpressure than previous MCP garment tests - to demonstrate the effectiveness of the bindings as a pressure garment. Changes in heart rate, skin temperature and blood pressure were recorded during these experiments.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Sim, Zhe Liang

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jeffrey A. Hoffman.

• Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35564

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/35564