Smart sweatshirts and artificial intelligence algorithms will help astronauts stay healthy aboard NASA’s planned Lunar Gateway lunar orbiting space station.
The sweatshirt is made from a smart material called “smart material” astronaut skinalready in international space station (International Space Station), but would need to be redesigned to make them suitable for service in deep space, far from Earth.
Canadian company Hexoskin will design wearable devices as contract declared Canadian Space Agency (CSA) November 26.
“lunar calendar gateway The distance will be about 1,000 times further Earth than the International Space Station, so there will be many restrictions in terms of cargo. [and] Hexoskin co-founder and CEO Pierre-Alexandre Fournier told Space.com.
“Radiation is an important factor when designing electronics, and we have to ensure that the components we will use can withstand such high levels of radiation,” Fournier added.
Related: Astronauts wear “smart” astroskin jerseys on the space station
During a mission to the International Space Station, astronauts absorb 50 to 2,000 millisieverts of ionizing radiation, equivalent to 150 to 6,000 chest X-rays. According to NASA. during or near the performance of a mission moonexposure may be an order of magnitude higher, According to the European Space Agency.
“We have to determine the requirements for the new space station, but we also want to use this as an opportunity to refresh the product,” Fournier said. “To improve capabilities, processing capabilities, etc.”
The Astroskin wearable health monitor is made of stretchable elastic material and equipped with six sensors to continuously monitor the astronaut’s heart rate, blood pressure, oxygenation, skin temperature, activity level and respiratory rate. Data is instantly transferred to a computer application, which AI Algorithms analyze it to find unexpected patterns and changes. Technology comes first Tested on the International Space Station It was designed by Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques in 2019 and has been worn by astronauts since then.
“The advantage of having a shirt that covers the entire upper body is that you have access to all surfaces around the torso where vital signals can be measured,” Fournier said. “It’s very comfortable. You don’t need any adhesive sensors anywhere. Everyone wears clothes every day, so smart clothing is a natural way to use it.”
CSA said in a statement The new equipment will “adapt to the daily lives of astronauts on missions in the lunar environment” and “gather valuable data on how astronauts’ bodies respond to the unique conditions of lunar orbit.”
Fournier predicts that the smart sweatshirt could arrive at the lunar gateway sometime in 2028 or 2029, most likely with the first astronauts to visit the new outpost as a artemis 4 mission.
Construction of Lunar Gateway is expected to begin in 2027, when its first two modules – the power and propulsion element and the habitation and logistics outpost – will be launched by SpaceX falcon heavy Rocket.
Hexaskin originally launched the product in 2009 to apply artificial intelligence and data-driven approaches to preventive healthcare. They hope the technology will help medical researchers study chronic diseases such as heart disease and respiratory disease.
“Our goal is to develop something for every person on the planet who needs medical care,” Fournier said. “That remains our focus today.”
The company won a contract to build biomonitoring equipment for astronauts in 2011 and has since tested it in a variety of environments. In addition to astronauts on the space station, Astroskin singlets were also used in simulations Mars missions on Earth, long-term expeditions to Antarctica, and helping other professionals with high-stress jobs such as first responders and pilots.
“The engineering aspects of what we do in space are very valuable,” Fournier said. “It allows us to push the limits of what’s possible in terms of product design, and then we take that technology and make it benefit all of our other customers.”