FILE - An artist’s illustration of two suited crew members working on the lunar surface. The one in the foreground lifts a rock to examine it while the other photographs the collection site in the background. (NASA)NASA has tapped two private American companies to develop the next spacesuits for moonwalking, spacewalking and beyond.On Wednesday, the U.S.
space agency revealed that it selected Collins Aerospace and Axiom Space to create spacesuits to be worn by the first humans to visit the moon in more than 50 years.According to NASA, the milestone-based contracts have a $3.5 billion maximum value through 2034.
These new spacesuits could be used as soon as 2025 during Artemis-3, the first human mission to the moon since Apollo 17.HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER ON TVUnder its heritage company Hamilton Standard, Collins Aerospace manufactured spacesuits worn by the moonwalkers during the Apollo program.
ILC Dover and Oceaneering are also partners with Collins on the spacesuit development.Collins Aerospace senior technical fellow and retired NASA astronaut Dan Burbank said he even tried on a prototype of the xEVA suit on the morning of the announcement. "We continually do a design, build, test, repeat, and evolve that the technology as we go, it will be tested in more and more flight-like environments, including thermal vacuum," Burbank said.