NDSTaR 2005, Planetary Spacesuit Design Project Information

Planetary Space Suit Design Team
NDSTaR 2005, An Aerospace Workforce Development Program

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Mission Statement

Mars-analogue research activities on Earth can benefit from a prototype Mars planetary suit that simulates many of the challenges future explorers will face during extra-vehicular activities on the Martian surface. Recognizing the iterative nature of planetary suit development, knowledge gained by designing, constructing, testing, and evaluating such a suit on Earth can be applied to future planetary suit development projects.

To this end, the North Dakota Space Training and Research 2005 (NDSTaR 2005) program will develop a Mars-analogue planetary suit that serves the needs of on-go<li>ing Mars simulation activities. By developing the suit with the participation of other educational institutions in North Dakota, this project also aims to cultivate a knowledge and experience base needed for future space suit development projects.

Ultimately, the fundamental guiding principle of this coordinated effort is to produce the highest quality product delivered on time and within budget.

Project Requirements

Pressurized to simulate the challenges of operating within a planetary suit.
Able to don/off the suit in no greater than [10] minutes.
Able to safely ascend and descend a ladder
Conduct standard geological field study and construction activities with modified tools
Conduct standard geological field study and construction activities.
Traverse [45 deg] inclined terrain consisting of loose surface material.
Able to operate a motorized rover while seated.
Material selection and mechanism design suitable for a Martian dust.
Able to quickly remove the helmet in an emergency.
Function safely in the suit unaided for [1.5] hours
Re-supply of suit consumables in less than [5] minutes.
Able to operate in the suit for [4 hours] without compromising user health.
Able to accommodate a drinking bag for the user.
Able to communicate to a remote station with voice and video data.
Contain a telemetry system to transmit suit temperature, gas composition, humidity, and toxins measurements.
Telemetry system must transmit heart rate and body temperature information.
Must be able to accommodate a liquid cooling garment.
Excellent helmet field of view.
Suit, life support system, other components must be designed to be repairable.
Suit must be delivered by [March 2006] to NASA.
Development costs of the suit must not exceed the program�s budget.

Project Proposed Timeline

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February 2005	Official Announcement of NDSTaR 2005 to all institutions of higher education in North Dakota Determine needs and divide the project in schools depending area of majors Establish contacts and select responsible person in each school Finalize list of participant institutions Web site Launch. In the initial phase the site with present basic areas, as purpose of the project and background information. Pdf�s and videos for public viewing, plus a password protected login area for team members. Also tools, explanations and schedule of teleconferences will be posted. Two E-mail lists will also be created, one for the responsible in each school to interact with pro project coordinators, and another for all the members of the project.
March 2005	Official start of the project Consortium-wide meeting in Grand Forks to establish time-line of activities Start of weekly telecoms between project points of contact (PoCs) in each participating school Begin conceptual studies Identification of requirements Drafting of Program Requirements Document (PRD)
April 2005	Start of purchasing of materials for concept studies Preliminary definition of concept Plastic machining for concept studies Hardware development program for critical parts
May 2005	Detailed drafting of mechanical parts Detailed suit architecture design Glove design and dexterity tests
June 2005	Status Review in each school Visit to schools across the State to see progress Make recommendations where needed Refine system and subsystems for final design
July 2005	Design "freeze" for critical hardware Detailed drafting and posting on the website.
August 2005	Outsourcing, manufacturing and ordering of special parts
September 2005	Manufacturing and ordering of electronics systems
October 2005	Received hardware testing Starts writing of Final Report to NASA Soft goods in-house manufacturing Software development Composite materials manufacturing (PLSS)
November 2005	Begin integration of mechanical and soft goods at UND Hermeticity tests
December 2005	Begin integration of composite parts and soft goods
January 2006	Begins integration of electronics systems Begins integration of biomedical sensors
February 2006	Un-crewed tests of complete system
March 2006	Final test, delivery of final report to NASA. Planetary EVA suit finished

This project is funded through a NASA workforce development grant given to the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium.