Final Day of NDX-1 Space Suit testing with MDRS Crew #112

Final Day of NDX-1 Space Suit testing with MDRS
Crew #112
Report by Annie Wargetz

Thursday, February 9, 2012
Today was the final day of space suit testing with the MDRS crew. Testing was conducted at the “Kissing Camels” site once again, this time with a drill. A test subject ran a baseline test without the suit, but with the biomedical and communications equipment donned. He drilled two holes stopping every two inches so the soil collector could get soil samples from what came from the hole.

Once the baseline was done, the subject donned the NDX-1 and performed the same test: to drill two sample holes and collect residue from the drill site. Testing in the space suit was completed in 30 minutes. For both runs, copious amounts of geological and biomedical data were
gathered.
The crews packed up all equipment and returned to the MDRS habitat where a round table discussion ensued. The discussion points centered around impressions from all five subjects who had donned the suit. The main points discussed were about the suit's mobility and how peripheral vision was affected by the suit, center of gravity changes, glove dexterity, among other items.