Jun 3, 2022 04:02 AM
https://www.popsci.com/science/nasa-hire...designers/
INTRO: As NASA plans to return to the moon, future astronauts could soon be sporting some brand new outerwear. After 40 years of withstanding the wear-and-tear of living in space, modern spacesuits are finally getting a makeover.
On Wednesday, the agency announced that it’s partnering with two private space companies, Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace, to build the next generation of spacesuits. Astronauts will wear those suits to conduct spacewalks aboard the International Space Station, explore the lunar surface during Artemis missions, and prepare for human-led missions to Mars.
The companies were chosen as part of the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services contract, an agreement that allows selected companies to compete for tasks through 2034. These tasks, which include demonstrations outside the space station and for the Artemis III mission, have a combined maximum worth of $3.5 billion.
During the June 1 NASA press conference, agency officials said that while the companies will technically own the spacesuits they create, developing public-private partnerships like this one allows NASA to save on costs while accomplishing more from a design and development standpoint than the agency could possibly do alone.
“We’re not only meeting NASA’s objectives, but also helping to support and encourage an emerging space economy,” said Lindsay Aitchison, a program executive for NASA’s Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program. “It’s exciting, it leads to innovation, and makes sure that we have sustained competition along the way.”
The spacesuits will also be “a key focal point when we take those first steps back on the lunar South Pole,” Aitchison added, and the contract is a major milestone toward that goal. As for potential suit designs, both companies are still in the early design stages, so it’s hard to say what the new outfits will look like. But they could potentially be much different than previous iterations, as NASA’s current spacesuits aren’t capable of withstanding the harsh conditions future deep-space explorers will experience.
They’ll also replace the aged spacesuits ISS astronauts use for extravehicular activity, or what are known as spacewalks. The ones used now are so old, they were originally designed nearly half-a-century ago for the Space Shuttle program... (MORE - details)
INTRO: As NASA plans to return to the moon, future astronauts could soon be sporting some brand new outerwear. After 40 years of withstanding the wear-and-tear of living in space, modern spacesuits are finally getting a makeover.
On Wednesday, the agency announced that it’s partnering with two private space companies, Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace, to build the next generation of spacesuits. Astronauts will wear those suits to conduct spacewalks aboard the International Space Station, explore the lunar surface during Artemis missions, and prepare for human-led missions to Mars.
The companies were chosen as part of the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services contract, an agreement that allows selected companies to compete for tasks through 2034. These tasks, which include demonstrations outside the space station and for the Artemis III mission, have a combined maximum worth of $3.5 billion.
During the June 1 NASA press conference, agency officials said that while the companies will technically own the spacesuits they create, developing public-private partnerships like this one allows NASA to save on costs while accomplishing more from a design and development standpoint than the agency could possibly do alone.
“We’re not only meeting NASA’s objectives, but also helping to support and encourage an emerging space economy,” said Lindsay Aitchison, a program executive for NASA’s Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program. “It’s exciting, it leads to innovation, and makes sure that we have sustained competition along the way.”
The spacesuits will also be “a key focal point when we take those first steps back on the lunar South Pole,” Aitchison added, and the contract is a major milestone toward that goal. As for potential suit designs, both companies are still in the early design stages, so it’s hard to say what the new outfits will look like. But they could potentially be much different than previous iterations, as NASA’s current spacesuits aren’t capable of withstanding the harsh conditions future deep-space explorers will experience.
They’ll also replace the aged spacesuits ISS astronauts use for extravehicular activity, or what are known as spacewalks. The ones used now are so old, they were originally designed nearly half-a-century ago for the Space Shuttle program... (MORE - details)