New Space Suits Help Astronauts in Distress

The first step in any emergency is to stay calm, but that might not be so easy when you’re literally floating out in space. To alleviate this concern, astronauts on the International Space Station tested new Russian-made suits with mini-computers embedded into the life support. In the case of a malfunction, the astronaut is notified, then given instructions on how to proceed via an LCD screen on the suit’s right breast pocket. That’s a lot better than simply memorizing a contingency plan and trying to remember it when your life is on the line. The Orlan-MK suits were used during installation of three antennas on an auto-docking system. Fortunately, there weren’t any malfunctions. [via UPI]