Go through the steps of the Design Process and find out!
For inspiration, explore stories about scientists and engineers who have tried, failed, tried again and succeeded in creating innovative technologies.
Jump to a Section: Anytime Design Challenge More About Spacesuits
The Design Process is a series of steps that inventors, engineers, and designers go through when trying to create a solution to a problem.
Materials and supplies you can find around your house for building a model (ie. recycled materials like plastic bags, yogurt cups or paper towel tubes)
Spacesuits aren't the easiest to move around in but there's a reason for this! The spacesuit is basically a safe environment needed for a human to live and work in space. With our sights set on exploring Mars, people in space will need a more flexible suit to move around in that keeps them safe from the Mars environment.
Learn more about the place humans would use the spacesuit—Mars.
Mars in a Minute Video Mars Facts
Watch these videos about spacesuits and then answer these questions together:
Watch this video about space gloves and then answer these questions:
If you need some help, jumpstart your brainstorm with these questions:
Test #1: How easy can you move around in the glove?
Try picking up different sized things, like a pencil, a rock, and a tennis ball.
Test #2: Does your space glove keep things out and keep your hand dry?
Fill up a tub or sink with water, put your glove on and stick it in the water.
Test #3: Can you pick up things in water?
We'd love to see what your family created!
Snap a photo of your design and send it to NASM-FamilyPrograms@si.edu.
Pablo de Leon is a spacesuit engineer who is leading a team at the University of North Dakota Space Suit Laboratory, working on an experimental spacesuit to allow humans to work on Mars.
He is pictured here with a prototype of one of the spacesuits his team developed, the North Dakota Experimental-1 (NDX-1) Mars Prototype Suit.
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