A London-based company has used NASA’s technology called the ‘Outlast’ material to create apparels with temperature-regulating properties that help in relieving symptoms of menopause. The US Air Force material, which was originally destined for space shuttle-era spacesuit gloves, is now part of a fabric line that is helping people cope with physical discomfort during menopause.
Since there is no biological cure for menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, women would no doubt welcome some help from space technology. Menopause can last for years, and the associated temperature swings are uncomfortable and sometimes debilitating.
Louise Nicholson, Founder of London-based Fifty-One Apparel, set up the company after she realised in 2017 that existing options for menopause relief fall short.
"I did some initial research to find out what was on the market, and there was absolutely nothing apart from nightwear," Nicholson said in the NASA release.
She wanted to help people stay comfortable during this period and when she came across a material called Outlast, which was born from NASA funding, Louise thought of putting it to use for the purpose.
The fabrics from Fifty-One Apparel (which is named after the average age of menopause in the US) aim to create a high-end feel based on "phase-change materials.” These materials allow individuals to maintain a consistent temperature, shifting between heat and cold.
NASA's Johnson Space Center explored the technology in the 1980s. The aim back then was to help space shuttle astronauts regulate their temperature in space. During spacewalks, astronauts swing between light and dark, which causes temperatures to fluctuate between 120 degrees Celsius (in the sunlight) to minus 160 degrees (in shadows). The solution was a phase-change material that regulated temperature by changing from solid to liquid.
NASA entered a small business innovation research contract with Triangle Research and Development Corp to look for ways to expand the use of the phase-change materials. Triangle then demonstrated that the phase change material could work in fabrics by inserting the liquid in microcapsules of a spacesuit glove.
Following Triangle's work, Gateway Technologies (now, Outlast Technologies) acquired the patent, and today it markets the tech under the name Outlast.
