IMPROVED NASA SPACE SUIT TECHNOLOGY GIVES VIRGINIA BOY HIS FIRST DAY IN THE SUN



June 30, 1998



Don Nolan-Proxmire
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/358-1983)



Audrey Schwartz Rivers
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

<h4>Release: H98-116</h4> <h3>Improved NASA Space Suit Technology 
Gives Virginia Boy His First Day in the Sun</h3> 

Like an astronaut setting foot on a new world, a six-year-old Virginia 
Beach, VA, boy can explore Earth during daylight for the first time, 
thanks to new NASA space suit technology.



On April 19, Mikie Walker became the first American child to receive a 
modified "space suit" that protects him from the sun's ultraviolet 
rays and other light sources. Mikie has porphryia, a genetic disorder 
that causes extreme and potentially dangerous sunlight sensitivity 
that can result in chronic skin inflammation, blistering, 
inflammation of nerves, abdominal pain and other disturbances. For 
some children with light sensitivity disorders, even a 40-watt light 
bulb can be dangerous.



"Mikie's new favorite outdoor activities include playing in dirt and 
rolling on the lawn," his mother Angela Walker said. "He enjoys this 
so much that, at the end of the day, he resembles a soil-encrusted 
Apollo moonwalker."



NASA's Johnson Space Center (Houston, TX) Office of Technology 
Transfer and Commercialization offered the suit to Mikie through an 
agreement with the not-for-profit HED and Related Disorders 
Foundation, Hampton, VA.



"It's amazing to think that NASA astronauts having walked on the Moon 
means a child now can play in the sunlight," said Sarah Moody, 
founder and president of the HED Foundation, which donates cooling 
gear and other garments to children with hypohidrotic ectodermal 
dysplasia (HED), multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, cerebral palsy and 
other genetic disorders. HED is a medical disorder characterized by a 
lack of sweat glands, which can lead to heat exhaustion, heatstroke 
and even death. Thirty children are on the foundation's waiting list 
for a suit like Mikie's.



The pint-sized space suit blocks nearly all of the sun's ultraviolet 
rays. Mikie sports an improved version of a prototype protective suit 
provided last September to four-year-old Kyle and two-year-old Ryan 
Richards of Shotton Colliery, England. The brothers have Polymorphic 
Light Reaction Syndrome, a serious allergy to light that causes 
severe skin lesions. Without the suits, the brothers could venture 
outside only at night. Last fall, the boys, who looked like junior 
astronauts, wore their protective suits to Disney World in Orlando, 
FL, and also viewed a Space Shuttle launch at the Kennedy Space 
Center in Florida.



Thanks to the "expert" feedback provided by the Richards brothers, 
NASA developed an upgraded version of the protective garment. The 
suit's headpiece was redesigned totally to enhance ventilation and 
reduce overheating in the head area.



"The body cooling system was changed from a battery-powered liquid 
pump unit to a passive phase change vest, made of material similar to 
refrigerator cold packs used for sports injuries. The vest is simple, 
less expensive and more durable than the original battery pump," 
saidRobert Dotts, assistant director of Technology Transfer and 
Commercialization at Johnson. The new phase change vest is easier to 
use for both children and their families and brought down the cost of 
the entire UV suit, Dotts said.



MicroClimate Systems, Inc., of Sanford, MI, supplied the phase change 
vest, and the Solar Protective Factory of Carmichael, CA, provided 
the UV protective outer garments. The DRLI Company, which supplies 
protective coatings for astronauts' space suit helmets, supplied the 
clear UV-blocking coating for Mikie's ski-goggle-like face visor. 
According to HED Foundation's Moody, who presented the NASA suit to 
the Walker family, a giggly Mikie couldn't wait to don his "space 
suit" and explore the outdoor world of his home planet in daylight. 
The family headed for a local lake and, also for the first time, 
Mikie could look at the scenery out the van's windows. Previously, 
the passenger windows of any vehicle in which Mikie rode, had to be 
covered completely to prevent exposure to sunlight.



For more information about UV protective suits for children with 
applicable disorders, contact the HED Foundation at P.O. Box 9421, 
Hampton, VA, 23670, phone 757/826-0065, or check out the web site at:



http://www.microclimate.com/hed/

	
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