Keeping Racers Cool: From NASA Spacesuit Research to Racing Suit Underwear by Andrew Wagner Jun 10, 2021 [1] Punishing speeds aren't the only challenge facing drivers at the NASCAR All-Star Race; they also face extreme heat in the driver's seat. And when you're in the hot seat, NASA technology can help you keep your cool. [2] This season, several NASCAR racers are wearing undergarments made from a heat-stabilizing material originally designed to keep astronauts comfortable on spacewalks even when the temperature outside their spacesuit spikes to hundreds of degrees. [3] For spacewalks to even be possible, spacesuits need major insulation and temperature controls to withstand temperature swings 250 degrees above and 250 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. In the 1980s, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston entered into a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the Triangle Research and Development Corporation to develop a glove material that would help maintain a steady, comfortable temperature. The secret was found in phase-change materials. [4] Phase-change materials absorb and release heat through basic characteristics of matter. As surrounding temperatures rise, the heat the material absorbs melts it from solid to liquid. This works in the opposite direction as well, releasing heat as the material solidifies again. No matter what phase it's in, in either hot or cold environments, the temperature stays around the melting point. This ensures that the material, much like Goldilocks' porridge, always feels just right. [5] Triangle's work for NASA successfully incorporated microcapsules containing a phase-change material into a synthetic-fiber insulating material for a spacesuit glove insert. The inserts never made their way into orbit, but to the engineers who developed them, they showed much promise. [6] In the 1990s, the company Gateway Technologies, now known as Outlast Technologies, acquired exclusive patent rights from Triangle to incorporate phase-change microcapsules into insulation and