Spacesuit Development and Testing Strategies

Spacesuits for planetary surface activities face a set of design challenges such as limited maintenance capabilities. Suit textiles for future lunar or Martian EVA’s need to have capabilities not required for Earth orbit operations, such as high abrasive and microbial resistance or radiation protection. We report on the challenges of planetary surface activities derived from Mars analog simulations as well as an ongoing ESA project to identify textile candidates for future lunar spacesuits.

PhD in exploration astrobiology (Univ. Innsbruck), teaches and does research at various universities in the field of human Mars exploration and Astrobiology. Dr. Groemer led 12 Mars expedition simulations, including the Dhofar desert in Oman, or the Northern Sahara, and leads the development of the experimental spacesuit simulator Aouda.