/sci/ - Science & Math

How aquanauts will do deep sea EVAs in the near future; Nuytco's "Exosuit".

>>3239659

>>Will an astronaut be able to use his spacesuit to dive under europa's ice sheet?

No. We'll be sending a robot probe instead, but if we were to send a human we'd most likely land a habitat module using the module delivery landers designed for Constellation; The module's underside would be coated in a thermally conductive plating which would be heated up such that the entire module would slowly sink through the ice. Power would be delivered by tether from a nuclear reactor lander set down some ways away. Once through the ice the module would be anchored to the underside of the ice shell and from there we could dispatch minisubs capable of handling the immense pressure at the bottom of Europa's ocean. An elevator system would deliver astronauts from the surface to the habitat down the long ice shaft, which would be periodically melted away to prevent it from closing.

However, with the right materials, an atmospheric suit like this one could be used. It's the deep sea equivalent of a space suit.

Here's one of the exosuits, still in the works. Purportedly they feature 48 hours of air, by way of a compact rebreathing system. Future suits could also make use of fuel cell powered centrifugal sea water separators, allowing them to stay out for many days at a time if need be.

My ideal deep sea research lab would use centrifugal seawater separation to generate oxygen, and it would be powered by a shielded radioisotope thermal generator. This would provide just enough power to constantly replenish the air, power the lights/computers/etc and recharge the docked submersibles and diving suits. Solid state RTGs are considerably safer than true reactors and in my opinion ideal for deep sea applications. It would obviate the need for a surface buoy, burning gasoline in generators for power and to pump air down to the habitat as Aquarius does.

It would be as independent from the surface as is possible. Researchers would use illuminated traps to attract and harvest vent animals like shrimp and squid, while growing vegetables onboard to supplement their diet. They could persist for many years without any surface support, requiring only a new fuel slug every 12 years or so.

Pic: Next generation 1atm diving suit, made by Nuytco. Suits of this type are the undersea equivalent of space suits and permit scientists to work outside the habitat without being exposed to the pressure, or having their tissues saturate with nitrogen.

>>2279298

The next generation of newt suits fits the bill. They claim it permits something like 48 hours of air, probably via battery powered centrigual sea water separation.

Nuytco is hard at work right now on the next generation of Newt suits, shown here. They will provide 48 hours of life support although Nuytco doesn't say how. Judging by the tiny exterior air tank, (probably a reserve) most have speculated that an integrated centrifugal separator, powered by an energy dense lithium polymer battery, will be providing the air.

Nuytco is hard at work right now on the next generation of Newt suits, shown here. They will provide 48 hours of life support although Nuytco doesn't say how. Judging by the absence of exterior air tanks most have speculated that an integrated centrifugal separator, powered by an energy dense lithium polymer battery, will be providing the air.