The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have sought the help of the public through votes to help the space agency decide on the design of the next spacesuit.
Spacesuits from 30 years ago works perfectly with space missions "where you're floating around, there's no gravity and you don't have to worry about weight," said Dan Huot, spokesperson for NASA, to Good Morning America. However, these old suits "won't work very well" on planet surfaces, such as Mars', because there is no gravity there.
To reinvent spacesuits that will work well with the future missions, NASA engineers, design students from Philadelphia University, and suit manufacturer ILC Dover had created three spacesuit prototypes that they posted in the NASA's website so people can see and cast their votes.
he three designs were all equally trendy and purposeful. The first option is the "Biomimicry," which concept was derived from the oceans. It has panels of illuminating wires that imitate that bioluminescence of some deep sea animals.
The second option is the "Technology," which looks closely like the old Apollo suit, except that it has light emitting patches on the upper torso. The light emitting patches, plus the Luminex wires, will aid in the identification of other space walkers. However, they "may not be incorporated in the final design," said Huot.
The last option is the "Trends in Society," which gives the look of what the "everyday clothes may look like in the not-too-distant future," as described in the NASA's website. It has vibrant hues, contrast stitching, and teardrop-like patches that represent the current trend style in sportswear design.
As of Wednesday, there are already more than 83,000 netizens who have casted their vote and 65 percent of them opted for "Technology."
The voting for the next generation spacesuit is only up to April 15.
