By Ann Shalanski, Matthew Yarmuch, Jennifer Marcy, and Dr. B.M. Patchett

As a major requirement for an engineering degree in many universities, students are required to submit a project that showcases what they have learned. The materials engineering program at the University of Alberta is no exception. Three students in the 2003 graduating class—Jennifer Marcy, Ann Shalanski and Matthew Yarmuch—embarked upon the task of designing a suit for astronauts on Mars.

Under the guidance of Dr. Barry Patchett, the students undertook a 13-week project to perform materials selection, which required optimizing the functions and requisites of a suit that would protect an astronaut on Mars.

The students dealt with many factors in the design of a suit for the Mars environment, including extremely cold temperatures, significant gravitational forces (compared to the moon), several forms of radiation, minimal atmosphere (that is, "soft vacuum" conditions), and the possibility of micrometeorite impact. At the same time, the comfort, mobility, and health of the astronauts had to be taken into account.
Jennifer Marcy, Matthew Yarmuch and Barry Patchett stand in front of an image of Mars. (Photo: Shaughn Butts, Edmonton Journal)

The students approached the project with a novel, six-step design process. They reverse engineered existing suits, such as the Apollo moon suit. They modelled components based on equipment such as sporting garments, medical apparatus, and pressure vessels. They performed material searches based on specific properties, compatibility and function.

The space suit they designed is composed of three separate garments. The liquid cooling and ventilation garment (LCVG) is nearest the body; its main functions are to regulate body temperature, remove moisture and provide comfort. The design is similar to a heat exchanger. It has five materials including a super-absorbent polymer (SAP) called Drytech, made by Dow Chemical; its purpose is to take moisture away from the body for comfort.

An illustration of the layers of the LCVG .
The main functions of the second garment, the pressure suit (PS), are to minimize moisture and gas loss, absorb impacts, maintain suit volume, and give structural form. The students designed this garment as a pressure vessel. Mars lacks significant atmosphere, so the suit acts as a mini-Earth environment.

The exterior thermomechanical garment (TMG) is made up of many layers that insulate the wearer from sub-zero temperatures and heat, while offering fire, radiation and impact protection as well as wear, chemical and UV- degradation protection. The students found many interesting and revolutionary materials for these purposes. For example, a new material called Demron, made by Radiation Shield Technologies (RST), offers radiation protection properties similar to those of lead, but is much lighter.
The layers of the TMG.

The suit allows for movement through a system of rings and bearings
To put the suit on, there is a system of bearings and compression rings. These also facilitate movement, something that appears to have been a problem in earlier space suits.
The whole suit would be about 4.8 mm thick and weigh about 21kg (without boots, gloves, helmet or life-support system). This is much lighter than the Apollo suit, but it is also necessary because the gravitational force on Mars is twice that of the moon.

Dr. Patchett encouraged his students to submit an article based on their design approach and findings for peer-review and publication in a technical journal. The paper, "Materials Choices for Mars," was published by the Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance in April 2004.