Inside Nasa’s next-gen spacesuits that astronauts will wear on Moon and Mars

NASA has been working on a next-generation spacesuit, unlike anything we’ve seen before – here’s what you need to know.

Last month, the US space agency announced that it would be teaming up with Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to develop a new suit for astronauts.

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What we know about the suit

The garment will focus on a modern and athletic approach that makes for “unmatched mobility”, per Collins Aerospace.

Cosmonauts of differing body types will also be able to don the suits – specifically, women from the 5th percentile for size, and men in the 95th percentile, Nasa said.

“When we get to the Moon, we will have our first person of color and our first woman that will be wearers and users of these suits in space,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

In a separate press release in late May, Nasa required the suits to allow humans to “explore the lunar surface and unlock new spacewalk capabilities outside the International Space Station”.

Designed for protection

While Nasa has kept the actual design under wraps, we do know what they’re looking for.

The new suit should protect space travellers from micrometeoroids, moon dust, and even vomit, Scientific American reported.

In terms of hearing, the suits have to protect astronauts from any sounds above 115 decibels.

Patriotic suits

Experts from Scientific American also noted that the suit’s design will be inspired by the “ceremonial unfurling of American Stars and Stripes by each set of Apollo moonwalkers”.

Furthermore, the next-gen spacesuits will come equipped with tools to help Artemis crew members carry and plant an American flag.

The spacesuits should be ready for testing in the Internation Space Station (ISS) within a few years.

A long road…

Nasa has been working on spacesuit technology for the past 15 years, spending approximately $420 million as of 2021 on the project, per an official report.

The report noted that the spacesuits aboard the International Space Station “have exceeded their design life by more than 25 years, necessitating costly maintenance to ensure astronaut safety.”

Nasa’s current suits have “been the workhorse for the agency for 40 years” and have been worn on 169 spacewalks, Dina Centella, Nasa space station operations integration manager, said.

Artemis Moon mission

The Artemis program was launched by Nasa in December 2017 and aims to return humans to the Moon by 2025.

Two of the program’s short-term goals are to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.

Mid-term objectives include establishing an international expedition team, and a sustainable human presence on the Moon.

Meanwhile, long-term goals for Artemis are to extract lunar resources from the Moon and to eventually make crewed missions to Mars possible.