Easing mobility inside a spacesuit

[Kerbface]

The weight of spacesuits is one thing, but another thing restricting mobility in a spacesuit is pressure, with the internal pressure pushing the suit constantly into a shape that best distributes such pressure. Perhaps in the future, this problem could be rectified using artificial muscles, which I believe are currently in development, positioned at joint bends in the suit, that are activated by sensors that detect motion or electrical signals from human muscle movement to replicate the motion of the wearer. I remember reading about the use of sensors to allow movement in robotic exoskeletons being studied currently.

[andrewas]

The problem is, that adds many more points of failure and increases the power requirements of the suit considerably.

I think counter-pressure suits are the way forward here, at least on the lower limbs, you could use a conventional pressure suit over the torso and upper limbs.

[Kerbface]

Well, I guess it depends on how efficient they manage to make artificial muscles. May not be a big deal in 20 years time. And what if the muscles fail? It's no harder than in a normal spacesuit and can be repaired later.

[Nuke]

a space suit if created to exacting tolerances with non elastic fibers and reinforcement would work. these suits would be skin tight and little atmosphere would be permitted between astronaut and suit. the whole thing is sealed at the neck and only the helmet need be pressurized. mechanical rigidity of the suit prevents the body's expansion to vacuum. u2 pilots used to wear similar suits, though these were just pressure suits not quite radiation shielded and insulated for use in space. catch is they must be precisely fitted to each astronaut, and that astronaut needs to maintain their body weight within a couple of pounds. i can actually imagine the radiation shielding and insulation bring a non-pressurized outer layer worn over the skin tight pressure suit.

i think the whole reason for using the beach ball suits is to make them one size fits all so that everyone doesn't need to bring their own custom fit suit.

[Albert VDS]

Artificial muscle made from carbon nanotubes,that could be a strong and lightweight solution: