NASA’s $3.5 billion plan to redesign its aging spacesuits

NASA has been utilizing the existent spacesuits connected the International Space Station for decades and they are showing their age.

"The spacesuits that are being utilized present successful the International Space Station by NASA are suits that were truly designed successful the '70s. These are suits that were primitively designed for the abstraction shuttle program. Due to the deficiency of funding, NASA kept moving connected them, kept repairing them and maintaining them for each these galore years. But really, these are suits that are astatine the extremity of their utile life," says Pablo De León, manager of the Human Spaceflight Laboratory astatine the University of North Dakota.

NASA has had issues not lone with uncovering the proper sizes to acceptable its progressively divers astronaut corps, but besides with degradation of immoderate suit components. Now the bureau is turning to 2 commercialized companies: Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, to physique and support its caller procreation of spacesuits. Under the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services Contract, oregon xEVAS, NASA is providing Collins and Axiom, on with a fig of their manufacture partners, with up to $3.5 cardinal done 2034. Axiom won the archetypal $228.5 million declaration to plan the suits that volition beryllium utilized during NASA's Artemis satellite missions and Collins won the 2nd $97.2 million declaration to plan and make a caller procreation of suits for the International Space Station. Since NASA is purchasing its suits from Collins and Axion arsenic a service, the vendors are escaped to marque further suits for non-NASA customers arsenic well

"The quality of this declaration is the functional requirements for these 2 suits are very, precise close. So astatine immoderate fixed time, we could inquire either of those contractors to really commencement moving connected the different what we telephone platform," says Lara Kearney, manager of NASA's Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program. "We besides person what we telephone an on-ramp clause successful the contract, which means if different institution comes into play and they person the capableness to compete, we tin really bring them connected to the declaration and let them to vie connected task orders arsenic well."

Kearney says the continued contention helps incentivize the contractors to execute connected outgo and schedule,  and yet helps support the disbursal to the authorities down. CNBC got a behind-the-scenes look astatine the caller suit that Collins Aerospace is designing successful collaboration with partners ILC Dover and Oceaneering. NASA hopes to usage this caller suit connected the International Space Station by 2026.

Watch the video to find retired more.