Hot new astronaut gear: This glove that can control a drone

The European Space Agency (ESA) just shared a prototype of a glove that could help an astronaut pilot a drone. In space. From a control panel on the back of their hand.

Agatha Medioni of the French company Comex designed the glove as part of the ESA's Pextex Project. The two-year project seeks to identify materials that might be used on future missions to the moon or Mars.

The glove fulfills its primary task of keeping an astronaut's hands safe from the vacuum of space, but it doesn't stop there. It's designed to operate and control "a martian drone or lunar rover with gestures alone," according to a press release.

This would be a key feature for exploring distant worlds. Controlling a drone could help an astronaut avoid danger while conducting an extravehicular activity (EVA). (Right now, missions to both Mars and Saturn's moon, Titan, have robotic explorers designed to explore these worlds' aerial dimensions.)

The glove also has an "integrated laser light that can measure distances or target objects," as well as a display that would show the astronauts how much oxygen they have left in their tanks. (It's similar to a scuba diver's dive watch.) Astronauts currently see these readings on their torsos, and have a small mirror strapped to their wrists that reflects the readings.

In October, NASA unveiled the space suits that the next round of lunar astronauts will wear. They're much more comfortable than past suits, and will fit a wide range of sizes.

Meanwhile, the gloves on the new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) suits, which astronauts will wear while exploring the moon’s surface, are much more flexible and allow astronauts to move their fingers freely, so they can pluck things like rocks from the lunar surface. ESA is working to integrate new textiles and features into their suits, too.

This new glove is only a prototype, so there's a long way to go before it actually makes it to space, but we like the enthusiasm here. We're one step closer to reaching the Iron Man suit of our dreams.