While spacesuit does a good job in keeping the astronauts safe from the harsh vacuum atmosphere, it does so with much cumbersome. It is with this in mind that the European Space Agency Power Glove was conceived.
No. This is not the Nintendo Entertainment System Power Glove from the 80s. Although it may well very be. The brainchild French company Comex and designer Agatha Medioni, this Power Glove will allow its wearer to control a martian drone or lunar rover using gestures.
But that is the only it has in common with the video game peripheral. It has built in laser light that can measure distances or target objects, and just like in some sci-fi novel and movies, the glove has a display to show the space suit parameters, such as oxygen levels.
All those are, of course, in addition to the gloves’ primary function of protecting the astronaut’s hands. The gloves are based on materials from the ESA-funded activity Pextex to develop novel space suit materials for the Moon.
It is worthy to note that Nintendo Power Glove have been hacked to be used to control a drone using gestures and so, the concept is not entirely new.
Image: ESA.
Hat tip: Uncrate.
