NASA Needs New Spacesuits - Part 1 of 2 Parts
NASA is working on new missions to send astronauts back to the Moon and on to Mars. They have developed a new spacecraft capsule design, a new heavy rocket to carry the capsule into space and the design for a new space station called the Lunar Gateway to orbit the Moon. This station will serve as a way-station for deep space missions. However, there is one important piece of technology that could be a problem for these plans. NASA needs a new spacesuit for astronauts.
The current design for NASA spacesuits has been in use for decades. Critics say that the current suits are too old, too bulky, too rigid and too few for NASA’s new missions. Astronauts can require up to three different kinds of spacesuits for an individual mission. First, they need something like a military type flight suit to wear when they are inside the space craft. Second, if there is an extravehicular activity (EVA) planned, they would need a traditional spacesuit that will provided a pressurized environment and oxygen to breath while outside of the space craft. Third, if there is a landing on a celestial body such as the Moon or Mars, they will need a suit that can be used to walk around on a surface with gravity. The EVA suits are especially rigid around the legs which is not optimal for walking. NASA has no current suits that are suitable for walking on a surface.
There is a sense of urgency about the availability of these different kinds of suits because NASA’s plans are moving forward quickly. The Exploration mission might be launched as early as 2020. This mission will test the Orion capsule and the heavy rocket. NASA hopes to have the Lunar Gateway station operational by 2025 or 2026. In spite of these near future deadlines, NASA “remains years away from having a flight-ready spacesuit... suitable for use on future exploration missions.”
Currently, NASA uses a mix of spacesuits. When U.S. astronauts hitch a ride on a Russian Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station (ISS), they wear a Russian Sokol flight suit. The astronauts that flew in the Space Shuttle wore orange “pumpkin suits.” Boeing and SpaceX have both designed their own flight suits to be used aboard the spacecraft they are working on. NASA may hire these private spacecrafts for some missions in the future. The crew on the ISS wear casual clothing. There are a few old Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit EVA suits kept on the station in case work is needed outside of the ISS. These suits were first designed in the 1970s. The Russian crew on the ISS also have their own old Orlan EVA suits for work outside the ISS.
Critics of NASA point to a recent audit that shows that two hundred millions dollars have been spent on new spacesuits research and design without resulting in any operational spacesuits. Spacesuits are very complex pieces of equipment. They can be thought of as little spaceships. NASA designed big rigid suits like their rockets and space craft.
Please read Part 2