NASA Working To Develop Next-Generation Spacesuits For International Space Station

Eric Fallas is a senior systems engineer who is testing out a prototype of a new spacesuit that NASA hopes to use on the International Space Station by 2026. The current suits used by NASA are from the 70s and are at the end of their useful life. Despite spending an estimated $420 million over a decade to create new suits, no operational suits have been produced. If the new suits are in use by the time of production, NASA will have spent over a billion dollars on the redesign and production. NASA has been dealing with two major issues: lack of funding and no destination. In order to address this, they have contracted with commercial companies, such as Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace Industry Team, to make and maintain new suits. The current suits have 18,000 components and a small refrigerator-sized interior volume. In addition, there have been safety concerns due to the aging suits, such as an Italian astronaut nearly drowning in space due to a helmet malfunction. There have also been inventory issues, such as not having the proper suit sizes for an all-female spacewalk. The Office of Inspector General noted that only eleven of the original 18 primary Life Support System units remain in NASA's inventory for the ISS program. NASA has awarded two contracts for the development of two new spacesuits, the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services Contract (XEVAS). Axiom Space won the first contract worth $228.5 million to design suits for the Artemis missions and Collins Aerospace won the second contract for $97.2 million to design suits for the International Space Station. The suits follow a similar structure and have modernized components, such as a pressure garment system, a liquid cooling and ventilation garment and a Portable Life Support System. The companies also have access to data from NASA's own suit development efforts. The suits are designed to fit the first to 99th percentile of astronauts using fewer parts and they weigh significantly less than the current emu. The helmet offers a better range of visibility and the upper torso is adjustable to help prevent shoulder injuries. The upper arm also provides a better range of motion. The contracts also incentivize the contractors to perform on cost and schedule and keep the expense to the government down. Collins Aerospace is working with NASA to create a new generation of spacesuits that are more advanced than ever before. These suits will require 30% less hardware to be launched into space, resulting in decreased cost and training time. They are designed for future missions such as trips to Mars and the Moon, offering greater mobility, reduced mass, better connectivity, and improved ability to see and communicate with each other. They will also be dustproof, as dust is a huge challenge for lunar missions. Finally, the suits are being designed to withstand long-term missions. For these reasons, Collins Aerospace is working hard to create suits that will help astronauts explore farther than ever before.

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