21. September 2009

The prototype for a Mars Spacesuit Aouda.X was tested at -110°C on the 21st of September in a cryo-therapy chamber in Seefeld (Tyrol).

"We were all relieved when our prototype for a spacesuit did so well in this test - after all the hard preparation work." said project leader Gernot Grömer after the tests under extreme conditions. "Until the last minute we went through a lot of different scenarios that could go wrong: We expected condensation on the electronic devices, fractures in the PMMA-Visor, even frostbite on exposed body parts of our suit tester - and more." "But Aouda has done its job extremely well. Apart from a few start problem concerning the communication between the telemetry consoles and the suit." explains Klaus Bickert, team leader for the On-Board Data handling from the PolAres programme of the Austrian Space Forum.

The test series lasted for three hours in different cryo chambers at -10, -60 and finally -110°C. The Alpine-medical Hotel Lamm in Seefeld owns those chambers, which are large enough to fit not only the suit tester but also some assistance personnel. In the coldest chamber the test lasted for 22minutes. As there were no noticeable changes within the suit, the test was stopped after this time to preserve the energy system of the suit.

As a thin layer of ice developed even with heating and air condition due to high humidity in the helmet, it was only taken off after reaching a surface temperature of 10°C after testing. This also was enough time for the layer of ice on top of the textile parts of the suit to melt away. Suit tester Ulrich Luger: "The temperatures during the tests were surprisingly comfortable - if you could forget about the 35kg of weight, plus the Exo-skeleton..." - So at least in terms of cold resistance Aouda.X did a huge step towards Mars...

Some picture impressions