A crew led by Collins Aerospace has been awarded a $97.2 million contract to develop a next-generation extravehicular exercise (EVA) spacesuit for the Worldwide Area Station.
“Our next-generation spacesuit was constructed by astronauts for astronauts, persevering with Collins’ long-standing legacy as a trusted associate of NASA’s human house exploration,” stated Dave McClure, vp and normal supervisor, ISR & Area Options with Collins Aerospace. “Collins’ superior spacesuit know-how shall be used on the Worldwide Area Station and we’re ready to proceed maintaining astronauts secure, linked and prepared—irrespective of the mission.”
Collins stated its next-generation swimsuit is a lighter weight and decrease quantity than current spacesuits to supply astronauts with higher consolation and vary of movement. The spacesuit is designed to suit virtually any physique sort and be straightforward to change as missions change.
Collins, which is a Raytheon firm, is partnered with ILC Dover and Oceaneering on the contract.
“That is an thrilling second as we proceed to be part of historical past. ILC Dover is fueling the following technology house economic system by designing and manufacturing spacesuits for the way forward for low Earth orbit and may have the flexibility to be outfitted for missions on the Lunar floor and past,” stated Corey Walker, CEO of ILC Dover. “Our groups are honored to embark upon this journey as they had been many years in the past when ILC Dover designed and manufactured the Apollo 11 spacesuit utilized by Neil Armstrong and different astronauts.”
ILC Dover has been offering spacesuit stress clothes and elements because the Apollo period.
“We’re extraordinarily excited and proud to be a part of the Collins crew, serving to to efficiently develop and deploy crucial US EVA house exploration functionality,” stated Phil Beierl, senior vp, Aerospace and Protection Applied sciences, Oceaneering. “Our employees brings excellent spacesuit methods engineering and integration experience to this process. We sit up for leveraging our moveable life help and stress garment subsystem applied sciences, in addition to our crew coaching and mission operations information to help the Collins crew.”
