Moving around the International Space Station, in weightlessness, is anything but easy: you have to keep your balance to avoid spinning, and you move by jumping - as if you were swimming - or by using ‘restraints’ to move around, mainly using your arms.

The role of Design for Space is to design new experiences by imagining new concepts of “prosthetic objects” capable of enhancing the performance of both astronauts and parastronauts.

Aerial Drift is an innovative support designed to move in microgravity, considering that to get from one end of the ISS to the other, the crew has to cover about 60 metres, a distance that is quite demanding for astronauts and parastronauts, especially if they have to face an emergency at a height of less than 130 centimetres. This prosthetic object is a kind of handlebar, compact, light and easy to use, equipped with a small battery-powered motor that drives a central fan. The airflow allows the astronaut to move by being “pulled” by the dumbbell and controlling its direction.

The idea is based on a technology used in underwater exploration, which is used to move quickly and easily in a chosen direction by using a depressor system that sucks in and expels air and uses the principle of a reactor to generate thrust.