Glove designers take home $350,000 in NASA design competition

By Martin Manoy on Friday, November 20, 2009 at 23:37

When one thinks of the world of haute couture, gloves may be one of the last things a fashion designer adds to a collection. After the results of this week''s NASA design competition, people may reconsider as two designers walked home with $350,000 in prize money for designing the next generation of hand wear for outer space exploration.

The two winners, one a professional costume designer and the other a veteran of space design competitions, were announced at an awards ceremony held at the Astronaut hall of Fame in Titusville, Florida, with the grand prize being $250,000 and $100,000 going to the runner up. An additional $50,000 in prize money was withheld due to a lack of qualified potential in the remaining candidates.

The competition is part of NASA''s Centennial Challenge initiative that attempts to attract design professionals, college students and companies outside of industry to the participate in field of space exploration.

Tasked with finding innovative ways to reduce hand fatigue and improve overall dexterity for astronauts, the competition judged the entrants through underwater pressure analysis called burst testing.