Suit up! Next-gen space wear is here - June 16, 2008
NASA is a step closer to the spacesuits astronauts will wear on the moon in 2020. On Friday it announced that Houston-based company Oceaneering International would be making its suits.
The contract, worth up to $745 million, is for two configurations of the space suit (press release, news coverage).
“Configuration One will support dynamic events such as launch and landing operations; contingency intra-vehicular activity (IVA) during critical mission events; off-nominal events such as loss of pressurization of the Orion crew compartment; and microgravity EVAs for contingency operations,” says NASA. “... While preparing to walk on the moon, the astronauts will construct Configuration Two by replacing elements of Configuration One with elements specialized for surface operations.”
As The Hartford Courant notes, this means NASA is “abandoning Hamilton Sundstrand as its spacesuit supplier after more than 40 years”. Hamilton is based in Hartford.
“We were very deeply hurt that we did not get the contract,” the paper quotes Donald Rethke, a Hamilton consultant, as saying. “To me, it’s the end of an era.”
The world’s fashion writers have yet to comment on the suits but we think configuration one is the look to go for: pleasingly retro, aggressively functional and flattering looks make it the must-have this season. By contrast configuration two ticks all the fashion no-no boxes: bulky, makes even super-fit astronauts look fat, has a terrible rucksack accessory and is a truly awful blue colour.
Shown left: configuration one (Image: NASA)
Shown right: configuration two (Image: NASA)
