Insects and fish may give clues about how to make a spacesuit

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Previously, in the series on mining an asteroid, I had an idea of an Iron Man suit that would protect crew on their long journeys into space.

Well, the post about artificial gills got me thinking again about that spacesuit.  That's the fish part.

The insect part is the observation that insects have hard exoskeltons that allow for plenty of movement.  If we can be clever enough, such a thing could be replicated in a space suit that could allow for plenty of movement and protection against radiation too.

Three or four inches worth of water is equal in radiation protection to a centimeter of lead.  The trick is to work in the crevices of the body and make the thing airtight and watertight.  You would need to pressurize between the hard exoskeleton and the water.  You'd do that with air that would press down upon the water which in turn presses down upon the skin.  The skin needs pressure against it at all times, or bad things happen.  I'm thinking of an air bladder between the water and exoskelton, and another water bladder that separates the water from the air.  They should slide over each other smoothly and with the exoskeleton.

If insects can be made to do it, so can we, I should think.

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