A team of companies from the Italian textile supply chain, led by RadiciGroup, has created the first spacesuit simulator, designed and developed entirely in Italy, for use in the Space Medicine Operations (SMOPS) mission, promoted and organised by Mars Planet, the Italian section of the Mars Society, under the patronage of the Italian Space Agency.
The SMOPS mission is focused on monitoring the health of future astronauts and developing technologies to support the simulation of life in space and planetary environments. RadiciGroup, together with Italian textile groups such as Eurojersey, Vagotex and DEFRA, made the project a reality. It provided the materials for the clothing of the six analogue astronauts who will take part in the mission, and coordinated the technological development that led to the creation of technical clothing for use in extreme conditions.
The garments were used in experiments at the research station in the Utah desert to simulate living and working conditions on Mars. The RadiciGroup-led team’s contribution to the SMOPS mission was the production of three technical garments with high standards of well-being, comfort and performance that will allow analogue astronauts to move easily and safely outside the base station using advanced control, monitoring and communication systems.
