SEATTLE — He's not just reaching for the stars. Seattle's Trent Tresch is getting dressed for the trip, too.
"What is out there waiting to be discovered?" he wonders.
Tresch is a member of Pacific Spaceflight, a non-profit science organization started by Portland professor Dr. Cameron Smith. The group aims to help make space travel readily available to almost anyone.
"Pushing the limits of humanity has really drawn a lot of people in."
Tresch is one of the group's experts in spacesuit construction and testing.
"The goal was to build these suits to make them affordable and accessible," he says.
His homemade designs are created with available materials.
"Mostly off the shelf."
Tresch tests the suits in his living room lab, at local climbing sites and, on this day, at iFly in Tukwila.
"It really gets your heart rate up," he says after putting his suit through the paces at the indoor skydiving facility, a vertical wind tunnel that allows him to float on a pillar of rushing air. "I'm sweating, let's just put it that way."
This suit is designed to survive the kinds of extreme conditions found above 60,000 feet.
"At that altitude, water actually boils at body temperature."
Pacific Spaceflight has already begun testing the suits on hot air balloon flights.
"Basically as high as we can."
But if they're ever going to get to space, every new design modification needs to be thoroughly checked out.
"Looking at different joints and seeing how you can engineer joints to move the way you want them to move."
Someday soon, Tresch hopes to see one of his DIY spacesuits ascend to the edge of space in a high altitude balloon.
"I'm sure we'll make it happen."
And maybe one day he'll suit up for his own adventure.
"If there's an opportunity to do a high-altitude flight, I am completely on-board."
After all, the sky's the limit.
"What can we do to keep pushing humanity forward and make these things a reality? If not me then who?"
Pacific Spaceflight can be seen in the upcoming Science Channel program, Homemade Astronauts. The group also offers spaceflight training to the general public.
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