Astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) are overdue for some new threads, however NASA is hoping to improve its spacesuits quickly. The area company awarded Collins Aerospace a $97.2 million contract to develop a spacewalking system to make use of outdoors the area station, NASA announced on Thursday.
The firm is tasked with designing and growing a brand new era spacesuit and demonstrating the usage of the go well with in a simulated area setting on Earth by January 2024. Afterwards, NASA can prolong the contract for an indication of the spacesuits outdoors the ISS by April 2026, the place will probably be worn by crew members.
“Collins’ next-generation spacesuit contains everything an astronaut needs to survive in the vacuum of space,” Collins Aerospace wrote in a statement. “Made up of more than 18,000 parts and with an interior volume the size of a small refrigerator, the suit provides oxygen, CO2 removal, electrical power, hydration, ventilation, thermal control and communications.”
This is the second contract awarded to Collins Aerospace to develop spacesuits for NASA. In June, the area company awarded contracts to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to construct spacesuits, value a possible mixed worth of $3.5 billion. These spacesuits are slated for a debut no sooner than 2025 and are designed with NASA’s Artemis Moon program in thoughts. That mentioned, the Artemis fits are slated for testing aboard the orbiting lab.
Either manner, the ISS is in determined want of latest spacesuits. NASA lately suspended spacewalks outdoors the ISS following a collection of probably life-threatening incidents of water leaking into astronauts’ helmets throughout their spacewalks. The area company resumed ISS spacewalks final month following an investigation into the leaks, however the spacesuits at the moment getting used are greater than 40 years old and clearly have to be upgraded.
“By working with industry, NASA is able to continue its over 22-year legacy of maintaining a presence in low-Earth orbit,” Lara Kearney, supervisor of the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, mentioned within the NASA assertion.
More: Russian Cosmonaut Forced to Abandon Spacewalk Due to Spacesuit Power Malfunction
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https://gizmodo.com/nasa-selects-collins-aerospace-to-design-new-spacesuits-1849875963
