Traditional spacesuits are bulky, heavy, unwieldy and, let's be honest, they just don’t look all that cool. Now MIT aeronautics researcher Dava Newman and her team are developing the Biosuit, next-generation exploration garb that will enable astronauts to be more mobile, flexible and even runway-ready. The suit, which we first reported on here, will be skin-tight, but still easy to move around in. In contrast, suited-up astronauts expend about 70% of their energy just trying to bend their heavily-encased arms and legs. While Newman is primarily focused on designing the suit for missions to the Moon and Mars, and enabling astronauts to freely explore the surface without wearing themselves out, the sleek, swank design also looks perfect for space hotel nightlife.—Gregory Mone
Traditional spacesuits are bulky, heavy, unwieldy and, let's be honest, they just don’t look all that cool. Now MIT aeronautics researcher Dava Newman and her team are developing the Biosuit, next-generation exploration garb that will enable astronauts to be more mobile, flexible and even runway-ready. The suit, which we first reported on here, will be skin-tight, but still easy to move around in. In contrast, suited-up astronauts expend about 70% of their energy just trying to bend their heavily-encased arms and legs. While Newman is primarily focused on designing the suit for missions to the Moon and Mars, and enabling astronauts to freely explore the surface without wearing themselves out, the sleek, swank design also looks perfect for space hotel nightlife.—Gregory Mone 
How col would it be to travel through space dressed like a Power Ranger?
Posted by: Stephen Macklin | July 21, 2007 at 09:07 AM
Great, now they'll never let fat people be astronauts.
Posted by: Mike | July 21, 2007 at 09:11 AM
Of course fat people will not go into space in the first 30 missions.
1. must be healthy - lots of fat people are not as healthy as standard weight people.
2. less weight means more equipment and supplies can be brought on board.
3. no room for krispy creme in space.
Sorry if you want to go to space you have to lose the weight - it is not that hard - if you are motivated you can do it.
I lost 40 pounds myself (was ~230 to 188)
you can do it!!!
For your health and the exploration gene.
Posted by: Tony Zafiropoulos | July 21, 2007 at 10:20 AM
When the Aliens come, they will eat the fat ones first.
Posted by: Two4SciFi | July 21, 2007 at 10:36 AM
"When the Aliens come, they will eat the fat ones first."
Actually, I am sure that the Aliens, being as advanced as they are, will prefer lean meat over fatty meat. Skinny people make better snacks!
Posted by: Trader-DFW | July 21, 2007 at 11:16 AM
Okay, call me low class, but my understanding is that in the old space suits if you had to go to the bathroom you just went in the suit. There was room for, ahem, storage.
I'm not sure how attractive it'd be to walk around with a load in those pants. Is the expectation that you can run to the "bathroom" and pull down/up the new pants in time?
And how about hiding a boner? Aren't they more frequent in the weightlessness/low-pressure of space, especially if shapely female astronauts are wearing those suits?
Posted by: edh | July 21, 2007 at 11:43 AM
"And how about hiding a boner? Aren't they more frequent in the weightlessness/low-pressure of space, especially if shapely female astronauts are wearing those suits?"
I would personally like to know this: How, um, hard would it be to take off one of these spacesuits? It'd be a shame to waste a potential Penthouse Forum moment because the suit required over an hour to remove...
Posted by: Tom | July 22, 2007 at 05:35 AM
Travel through space dressed like a Power Ranger? I think better of a Sky Rider saga.
Posted by: ket | July 23, 2007 at 10:52 AM