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This is NASA's new Z-2 spacesuit
The follow-up to NASA's rather Toy Story-esque Z-1 spacesuit was decided this week, thanks to an online poll. Three options were up for the task of being the next cover layer to protect the Z-2, and after garnering 63 percent of the vote, the "Technology" option will be part of the agency's new threads. An unadvertised underlying theme continues as renders of this suit certainly have a bit of a Tron aesthetic. Now, NASA engineers will move on to vacuum chamber, Neutral Buoyancy Lab, and rocky Martian surface tests which are all expected to commence this fall. There are plenty of features that make this an improvement over previous models, so let's take a closer look at the details.
NASA reveals three spacesuit designs, wants you to choose a favorite
Looks like NASA wants to add more zing to its futuristic Z-series spacesuits, because the agency just revealed three far-out outer shell designs for the newest prototype. The new model (called the Z-2) is a follow-up to NASA's Buzz Lightyear-esque Z-1 spacesuit prototype, which was named one of Time Magazine's Best Inventions of 2012. There are several differences between the two, including the quality of their upper torsos: while the Z-1's is soft, the Z-2's is hard and impact resistant. Another interesting tidbit about the new suit is that its creators used 3D-printed hardware during the development and sizing phase.
