Company patents spacesuit with ‘return-to-home’ button

US tech company Draper has filed for a patent on a spacesuit with a system capable of returning a disoriented astronaut wandering in space to the spacecraft or station.

Not all astronauts will be as adept as George Clooney at operating a jetpack and navigating space during EVA situations. In the film Gravity, he didn’t need any tools for this, but according to Draper, astronauts can certainly benefit from them if they lose their orientation during a spacewalk without a cable.

For these scenarios, the company has applied for a patent on a system that helps the astronaut find his way back to the airlock at the push of a button. Because satellite navigation such as GPS does not work in space, Draper wants to develop a spacesuit with sensors that map the movement of the astronaut, his acceleration and the position in relation to, for example, a spacecraft.

Among other things, the position of the stars can be used as a means of navigation. The idea is that the system will operate the jetpack autonomously or that the astronaut will receive directions via the sensors on a screen in his helmet. The system must not only be enabled by the astronaut himself, but also by the mission control or a crew member of the spacecraft.

It is currently still a patent, so whether such a system will ever be integrated into a spacesuit is unclear. Space agency NASA is in any case interested and is financing Draper’s research. The company believes that such a navigation aid could also be applied in other scenarios, such as deep-sea divers, paratroopers and firefighters.