Out of This World! Textiles Go to Space

W ith plans taking shape for a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s, NASA has a lot to consider: How will Mars be different from the Moon? What’s the best way to get there? What can the Red Planet teach us about our solar system? But perhaps one of the most important questions that must be given due consideration is: What will the astronauts wear? Currently, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) wear largely cotton garments, including polo shirts and cargo pants for TV appearances and everyday work, sleepwear, and underwear. Cotton was used successfully in the Apollo-mission era when astronauts visited the Moon, and has proven to be a useful textile because it doesn’t melt or drip when it burns—it only chars. For the missions in the 1970s, cotton garments were often also treated with flameretardant materials, and aramids like Nomex were used. Other flame-resistant fibers were also crucial, such as polybenzimidazole (PBI) and Durette—a specialized, chemically treated fiber that doesn’t burn or produce noxious fumes, which was developed by Monsanto specifically for the Johnson Space Center. Because current missions—such as those to the ISS—allow astronauts to live in an environment similar to Earth’s, regular cotton has largely sufficed over the past few decades, along with polyester for exercise clothes. In fact, many of these articles of clothing are not even specially designed for astronauts. As such, many of the fibers that were developed for missions to the Moon no longer exist, and the companies making them have gone out of business.