<p>An innovative 'SkinSuit' designed to reduce the debilitating physical effects of space flight has been trialled for the first time on the International Space Station by a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The SkinSuit is the brainchild of Dr James Waldie, aerospace engineer and senior research associate at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne.<br /><br />Denmark's first astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, spent 10 days in the International Space Station (ISS) last month and pulled on the SkinSuit to test its effectiveness in the weightless conditions.<br /><br />Inspired by a striking bodysuit worn by Australian gold medallist Cathy Freeman at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Waldie and his collaborators have spent more than 15 years getting the suit into space.<br /><br />"Seeing live video of Andreas wearing SkinSuit on board the ISS was thrilling - I felt an enormous sense of achievement that my concept was finally in orbit," Waldie said.<br /><br />Skin-tight and made of bi-directional elastics, SkinSuit has been designed to mimic the impact of gravity on the body to reduce the debilitating physical effects space flights have on astronauts' bodies.<br /><br />In the weightless conditions in space, astronauts can lose up to 2 per cent bone mass per month. Their spines can also stretch by up to 7cms, with most suffering mild to debilitating pain.<br /><br />Following flight, astronauts have four times the risk of herniated discs as the general population.<br /><br />"Given the impact of atrophy on astronauts in space, I wondered if a suit like the one worn by Freeman could fool the body into thinking it was on the ground rather than in space, and therefore stay healthy," Waldie said.<br /><br />The special design of the suit means it can impose a gradual increase in vertical load from the wearer's shoulders to their feet, simulating the loading regime normally imposed by bodyweight standing on earth.<br /><br />For the ISS flight, the European Space Agency wanted to explore if the suit could counteract the effects of spaceflight on the spine.<br /><br />"We believe if we can reduce spinal elongation in space, we can reduce the stress on the intervertebral discs. This should help with pain in-flight, and the chances of slipped discs post-flight," Waldie said.<br /><br />SkinSuit has been developed in collaboration with scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, King's College London and the European Space Agency.<br />The suit was manufactured by Italian firm Dainese.<br /><br />Enjoying his first space flight, Mogensen tested SkinSuit over two days as part of an Operational and Technical Evaluation.<br /><br />He took frequent height measurements, comfort and mobility surveys, skin swabs for hygiene assessments, and also exercised with the suit on the Station's bicycle ergometer.<br /><br />Mogensen has since returned to Earth but is yet to publicly report his findings.</p>
<p>An innovative 'SkinSuit' designed to reduce the debilitating physical effects of space flight has been trialled for the first time on the International Space Station by a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The SkinSuit is the brainchild of Dr James Waldie, aerospace engineer and senior research associate at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne.<br /><br />Denmark's first astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, spent 10 days in the International Space Station (ISS) last month and pulled on the SkinSuit to test its effectiveness in the weightless conditions.<br /><br />Inspired by a striking bodysuit worn by Australian gold medallist Cathy Freeman at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Waldie and his collaborators have spent more than 15 years getting the suit into space.<br /><br />"Seeing live video of Andreas wearing SkinSuit on board the ISS was thrilling - I felt an enormous sense of achievement that my concept was finally in orbit," Waldie said.<br /><br />Skin-tight and made of bi-directional elastics, SkinSuit has been designed to mimic the impact of gravity on the body to reduce the debilitating physical effects space flights have on astronauts' bodies.<br /><br />In the weightless conditions in space, astronauts can lose up to 2 per cent bone mass per month. Their spines can also stretch by up to 7cms, with most suffering mild to debilitating pain.<br /><br />Following flight, astronauts have four times the risk of herniated discs as the general population.<br /><br />"Given the impact of atrophy on astronauts in space, I wondered if a suit like the one worn by Freeman could fool the body into thinking it was on the ground rather than in space, and therefore stay healthy," Waldie said.<br /><br />The special design of the suit means it can impose a gradual increase in vertical load from the wearer's shoulders to their feet, simulating the loading regime normally imposed by bodyweight standing on earth.<br /><br />For the ISS flight, the European Space Agency wanted to explore if the suit could counteract the effects of spaceflight on the spine.<br /><br />"We believe if we can reduce spinal elongation in space, we can reduce the stress on the intervertebral discs. This should help with pain in-flight, and the chances of slipped discs post-flight," Waldie said.<br /><br />SkinSuit has been developed in collaboration with scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, King's College London and the European Space Agency.<br />The suit was manufactured by Italian firm Dainese.<br /><br />Enjoying his first space flight, Mogensen tested SkinSuit over two days as part of an Operational and Technical Evaluation.<br /><br />He took frequent height measurements, comfort and mobility surveys, skin swabs for hygiene assessments, and also exercised with the suit on the Station's bicycle ergometer.<br /><br />Mogensen has since returned to Earth but is yet to publicly report his findings.</p>