Scientists build astronaut ‘stillsuit’ inspired by ‘Dune’
- The spacesuit recycles urine into drinking water during space walks
- Design of the spacesuit inspired by Frank Herbert's 1965 novel 'Dune'
- Scientists hope suit will be ready in time for NASA missions in 2030s
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Timothee Chalamet, left, and Rebecca Ferguson in a scene from “Dune.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
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(NewsNation) — Paul Atreides, Chani and Stilgar cosplayers, rejoice.
Scientists at Cornell University have built a spacesuit that will recycle astronauts’ urine into drinking water during space walks. If that idea sounds familiar, it’s because the researchers were inspired by the stillsuits found in Frank Herbert’s classic 1965 sci-fi novel, “Dune.”
The suit is designed to replace a garment astronauts wear that is, in essence, a multilayered diaper. According to Science News, the diaper “is known to be uncomfortable, leak and cause urinary tract infections.” Researchers believe the new stillsuit will allow astronauts to go on lengthier spacewalks in future lunar missions by keeping them more comfortable and hydrated longer.
In Herbert’s novel — and Denis Villeneuve’s wildly successful film adaptations starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya — stillsuits are worn by the Fremen, natives of the desert planet Arrakis, aka the titular Dune. The Fremen use the suits to recycle their bodies’ moisture as they cross the treacherous deserts of the planet, which is largely empty of water.
“I’ve been a fan of the Dune series for as long as I can remember,” Sofia Etlin, a space medicine researcher at Cornell who co-designed the suit, told Science News. “Building a real life stillsuit was always a bit of a dream.”
The researchers hope the stillsuits will be ready for use in lunar NASA missions by the end of this decade.
Details about the suit were first published July 12 in the journal “Frontiers in Space Technologies.”
