Titan Puffer

We had to test it the way you test components in missiles

To stand a chance of getting close to the surface temperatures on Titan we had to head into the lab. We turned to a test called Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT) or Destruct Testing. It uses a liquid nitrogen cooling system to create rapid temperature changes, putting enormous stress on anything inside the chamber. The method is normally used on hardware like electronic components for missiles which need to survive in freezing temperatures at high altitude, making us the first to ever use it for testing a piece of clothing.

The jacket will keep you warm in temperatures of -50°C

Even with a static mannequin that couldn’t move and was only wearing the jacket, the body’s core temperature remained warm and stable at -50°C. So we turned the chamber down to -100°C to see what would happen next. In temperatures this cold you’re not just thinking about the human body surviving. You’re thinking about the jacket not freezing and shattering. The Titan Puffer came out intact. So we’re on the right track. And the mannequin’s temperature stayed stable for 5 minutes at -100°C, which is colder than any temperature ever recorded on Earth.

The inside of the jacket is built with space parachutes

The most advanced part of the Titan Puffer is possibly the bit you don’t see. Because the inside of the jacket is made from one of the craziest materials ever invented. On 18 February 2021, the Perseverance Rover was heading towards Mars at 20,000kmph, or Mach 16. It needed something to slow it down. And to do this it deployed a parachute that reduced its speed by over 98% in just a couple of seconds to 320kmph. The impact shock of slamming on the brakes at hypersonic speed is incredible. But NASA had created the lightest, strongest and most temperature resistant parachute fabric ever produced. So that’s the material we now use just to make the inside of Titan Puffer.

The inner layer has already been to Titan and Mars

16 years earlier the same technology was used to land the Cassini-Huygens probe on Titan during Saturn’s first ever space-research mission. On Christmas Day 2004, after a 7 year journey, the parachute deployed about 180km above Titan’s surface. On 14 January 2005 Cassini began successfully broadcasting images of Titan’s surface from Huygens back to Earth. It became the first probe to land in the outer Solar System – the furthest any spacecraft has ever landed. And if you ever make it to Titan, you might find the parachute still there.

The material is heading back to Titan

In 2026 NASA will launch its Dragonfly rotorcraft to Titan. Scheduled to touch down in 2034, it will fly multiple missions to sample and examine dozens of sites, searching for the building blocks of life, and any prebiotic chemical processes shared by both Earth and Titan. The lander’s 7 year journey will conclude with a 105-minute descent at a speed of Mach 1.5, where another parachute will deploy to slow the capsule to subsonic speeds.

An outer material designed to survive warzones

The outside of the Titan Puffer is made from an ultralight and high-strength material developed for the British Special Forces in Afghanistan. In remote terrain every ounce of extra weight counts against you. So the material we use is not only built to be incredibly strong and incredibly light, but work out in the field. Waterproof, triple-layered, and made from a high-tenacity nylon, it’s weather resistant, and built to cope with rapid temperature changes without getting damaged.

It keeps out rain while staying breathable

While the outside of the jacket looks like a single layer of incredibly light material, it’s actually 3 super thin layers laminated together. The very outer layer is coated with a water repellent treatment to make snow and rain bead off the surface of the jacket. Underneath this is a membrane which is waterproof to over 10,000mm while remaining highly breathable, so that your body stays comfortable even in regular cold temperatures. And the final layer is a thin mesh which keeps the material robust but lightweight. Its reinforced threads are interwoven into a crosshatch pattern giving the outside of the Titan Puffer its three-dimensional texture, providing strength and durability, while also looking out of this world.

Giant pull cords to help protect your head

You’ll find two giant pull cords on either side of the hood. These are connected to internal channels inside the hood, so when you pull them they tighten the hood up around your face and let as little air in as possible. We’ve also built in heavy-duty metal snap fasteners so you can anchor the pull cords down and they won’t move. You can adjust the hood with an elasticated drawcord at the back. The inside of the hood is lined so it’s soft on your skin. And there’s a peaked cap so you can push it up or pull it down for visibility.

Hard-wearing detailing built to protect you

All the detailing on the Titan Puffer is designed to cope with brutally cold conditions. There are two giant side vents with oversized pull cords to open them up or pull them closed. The cuffs fasten with Velcro adjusters to create a seal around your gloves or hands. And there’s an outsized hanging loop on the inside so you can hang the Titan Puffer up when you head back inside your spacecraft.

We use zigzag stitching for strength

Our Titan Puffer uses thick zigzag stitches. You’ll find it across all the baffles – the pockets created between two layers of fabric filled with our synthetic insulation. It’s not just there to look good. A zigzag seam concentrates force at the points of the zigs and the zags – as opposed to a straight seam that spreads force across a long line. It makes our stitching incredibly strong and hard to tear.