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From bras and babysuits equipped with monitors to tough suits to protect sportsmen and adventurers from the hazards of life on Earth, space technology is boldly pushing back fashion frontiers.

Space technology bra
© AFP Bertrand Guay

"The space programme has over the years provided a catalyst for a lot of the progress we are seeing today in textiles," said David Raitt, technology transfer and promotions officer with the European Space Agency (ESA).

"We are using the software, experience and know-how of space technology for a purpose for which it was not originally meant."

The extremes of the space environment -- temperatures ranging from searing cold to furnace hot, cosmic radiation, low gravity and blinding sunlight -- have all set scientists huge challenges.

Some 400 million euros (500 million dollars) out of the agency's average annual three billion euro budget is spent on research and development, and now many on Earth are reaping the benefits of such specialised technology.

ESA has spent years developing lightweight fabrics to reduce the cost of space missions, with every kilo launched into space costing 10,000 euros, Rait said at the opening of an exhibition of space technology clothing here.

Sialing suit using space technology
© AFP Bertrand Guay

The result has been some materials which are 100 times stronger than steel but which weigh almost nothing at all, many of which are capable of withstanding great extremes of temperature.

In 2002 the MacLaren Formula 1 pit crew in the British Grand Prix wore special overalls "in an idea adapted from space suits" which had 50 metres of 2 millimetres plastic tubing stitched into the lightweight suit.

"It can get very hot, between 40 to 70 degrees in the pits. So McLaren came to us and asked us if we could cool down their crews," said Raitt. Cold water was piped into the tubes and could keep the wearer cool for up to 90 minutes.

The Anatomic Intercooler System (AIS) jacket was then more widely developed by Italian bike clothing company Spidi and used in 2004 by Spanish rider Sete Gibernau at the worlds hottest motorbike Grand Prix in Qatar.

Although such clothes are for the specialists, Italian designers Grado Zero, working with ESA, aim to market commercially from September a leather motorbike jacket with an in-built rider protection.

A special gel system in the shoulders and elbows ensures the jacket is supple when worn, but those areas immediately harden on impact cushioning the wearer. At the back, a strip incorporated into the jacket shines with a blue moving light at night.

Display at the "Dress Code" exhibit
© AFP Bertrand Guay

The jacket, which will retail at about 1,000 euros and be personally fitted, has also been treated to keep the wearer warm in winter and cool in summer, even though it is made of ultra-thin leather.

"The idea was to create a jacket for all seasons," managing director Filippo Pagliai said.

The company is also working on commercialising a lightweight jacket for climbers which can protect them up to minus 50 C (minus 58 F), using a special compound called Aerogel.

Developed by ESA, it is made of about 80 percent glass and is the lightest solid known on Earth, but also the most insulating.

It was used for insulating probes sent to Mars, but could be in shops near you from next year worked into nanoporous jackets.

Space suits which had monitors built into them to keep an eye on astronauts' heart and respiration rates have provided the inspiration for clothes which could prove lifesavers on terra firma.

Overalls using space technology
© AFP Bertrand Guay

A new, washable babysuit should be marketed next year which could help spare parents the anguish of cot deaths.

Thanks to a pattern recognition system it could also end those heart-stopping seconds when traditional monitors beep alarmingly as the infant rolls off the pad in its sleep.

A bra is also in development which could have monitors built into for women suffering from breast cancers.

There is also an suit which protects wearers from ultra-violet rays, developed after the agency was contacted by the mother of a child who suffers from a rare genetic condition meaning he cannot be exposed to any sunlight.

The exhibition "Dress Codes," bringing together such innovative textiles, is at the Materio library, 15 square de Vergennes, 75015 Paris. Open Tuesday to Saturday from midday to 7:00 pm. Entry five euros.

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