July 18, 2007 4:00 AM PDT
Central to the design of the BioSuit is this pattern of lines, corresponding to the "lines of nonextension" on the skin that don't stretch when an arm or leg moves. The suit's lines are meant to provide structural support while also allowing mobility. The BioSuit is also designed to let astronauts wrap a small, isolated puncture much as they would use a bandage.
Initial funding for the project came from the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts. (For an in-depth account of how NASA is provisioning itself with one small element of a space suit--the glove--see this New York Times Sunday Magazine article from July 1: The Amateur Future of Space Travel.)
Photo by Donna Coveney/MIT
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