ESA’s Power Glove

ESA – European Space Agency’s astronaut ‘Power Glove‘ controls drones and measures distance with laser.

Spacewalks are a risky business and wearing a spacesuit that protects against the vacuum outside our atmosphere is cumbersome. This glove is a mockup concept for astronauts that adds extra functions to the five fingers.

As humankind explores the Universe we will work hand in hand with robots that scout ahead, prepare landing sites and go to places too dangerous or impracticable for humans.

The gloves in this photo are an independent project from French company Comex and designer Agatha Medioni based on materials from the ESA-funded activity Pextex to develop novel space suit materials for the Moon.

The gloves have three extra functions in addition to protecting an astronaut’s hands from vacuum. They can be used to control a martian drone or lunar rover with gestures alone. They have an integrated laser light that can measure distances or target objects. Lastly the materials have a display to show the status of supplies such as oxygen levels. Current spacesuits have this display on the torso and astronauts use a mirror on their wrist to be able to see it.

source ESA