On the ISS, time is money—which makes the two hours each astronaut spends in their daily exercise period a big addition to the bottom line.
Exercise is essential for astronauts in orbit, since microgravity causes rapid deterioration of bone density and muscle mass. But what if the astronauts could multitask?
That’s the question Nicole Huimei Lee is exploring as a graduate researcher at MIT’s Human Systems Lab.
It’s called fashion: Lee is researching tech that astronauts can wear on long-duration missions to exercise while they work. Specifically, she is working to integrate neuromuscular electrical stimulation into the outfits astronauts wear while working inside the space station.
“Now that the tech has given us an avenue to have this in a new portable and wearable fashion, we’re studying whether we can combat the space environment with a mix of using neuromuscular stimulation, and other exercise regimens, to activate muscular stimulation without requiring a higher metabolic cost,” she said.
Shock effect: In neuromuscular electrical stimulation, nodes are attached to a person’s body to deliver small electrical impulses to activate the muscles. Lee said it’s commonly used on Earth for physical therapy and injury rehab (though this writer has also seen celebrities using it for health and wellness, claiming it can do the work of hundreds of situps.)
The terrestrial benefit is part of the appeal for Lee.
“I love what I do for human spaceflight, and I also love that human spaceflight brings so many solutions back to Earth,” she said.
The suit is set to get some zero-G time this year, with a parabolic-flight campaign set for November, Lee said.
Strut your stuff: Lee’s interest in clothing extends beyond her work on next-gen suits. Lee and her lab mate—who has a background in fashion—are working to hold a spacesuit-fashion show for the MIT community to showcase the past—and future—of space-explorer fashion.
James Shin, K2 Space
“As I begin to understand how much [impact]…things like cellular telecommunications, imaging, climate [research]…have globally—once I started to understand that, I was like, ‘Okay, this is definitely the industry that I want to work in,’” Shin told Payload.
Robert Ihnatisin, Orbital Matter
As an expert in 3D printing for terrestrial applications, Robert Ihnatisin was surprised by how slow the in-orbit manufacturing industry was progressing. So, naturally, he started a company to solve the problem himself.
Patrick Miga, Advanced Space
In first grade, Patrick Miga saw a photo of Neptune (snapped by the Voyager 2 spacecraft).. Ever since then, his life has been directed toward space.
Muhammad Hunain, Melagen Labs
“That’s where I realized we’re stuck at a 1980s standard: still shielding spacecraft with aluminum, and rad-hardened electronics [were] too expensive to build at the scale this economy demands,” Hunain told Payload.
Dallas-based Balerion Space Ventures has surpassed its $200M target for its second fund, the firm announced Thursday. Fund II—which remains open—is more than five times the size of the firm’s debut fund, which came in at just under $40M.
Balerion had closed ~$90M as of May, according to Venture Capital Journal. Cofounder and General Partner Daniel Kleinmann chalked up the momentum since then to portfolio companies hitting milestones and raising up-rounds—which he said resonated with LPs.
The firm is also holding back capital for follow-on rounds. “These are really capital-intensive businesses,” Kleinmann told Payload. “Having the ability to reserve capital to continue supporting these businesses as they hit major technical, commercial, government milestones is really important to us.”
Keep reading