In space, no one can hear you sob.

The link between extraterrestrial exploration and emotional distress has been well-documented for decades, though those feelings aren’t always about what people experience in space. Buzz Aldrin, for one, lived with depression for years after walking on the moon, partly because that accomplishment outstripped so much of what he experienced after. Space travel, however, presents psychiatric risks of its own, especially over the course of protracted missions in cramped quarters.

Enter an ongoing research project—funded in part by a NASA grant—at Florida Polytechnic University that would use technology embedded in astronauts’ suits to evaluate their well-being and adjust conditions accordingly. According to a press release from the university, the product the researchers are attempting to develop—which it calls Smart Sensory Skin—would monitor an array of biometric data points, including “pulse rate, blood pressure and joint angles.”

That information would then be fed wirelessly to other systems in the astronauts’ environment, allowing a space station or craft to dynamically adjust lighting, oxygen levels, and other factors. In the process, it might be possible to anticipate the needs of astronauts before they become issues, potentially staving off some of the psychological challenges associated with long stints away from Earth. It’s of a piece with work that’s long been underway at NASA, including experiments into the effects sleep-wake cycles and light exposure during spaceflight.