Wakata's clothes include long- and short-sleeved shirts, pants, shorts and underwear. There are socks too, which in addition to being laced with odor-fighting polymers, are constructed so that there is a pouch for the big toes, similar to how a mitten fits a thumb. The design enables astronauts to use their feet like an extra pair of hands. Taya is working with clothing manufacturers Toray Industries and Goldwin Inc. on a commercial line that integrates a nano-thick chemical layer into the materials. "Many of the properties required for clothing worn by astronauts on board a spacecraft can be applied to ordinary clothes," Taya said in a statement. For now, the space clothes are only available to JAXA's astronauts. "Someday when we're all finished with development we will supply them to the other partners," Yanagawa said. Wakata is the first Japanese astronaut to live on the station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations. Beginning in May, the number of live-aboard residents is scheduled to double from three to six. Related Links: Discovery Space Blog: Free Space |
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