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NASA will rent future spacesuits from two suppliers

NASA has struck deals with two commercial teams to provide the spacesuits destined for use when astronauts return to the moon by as early as 2025 — and there’s an extra twist that might have sounded alien to the Apollo moonwalkers a half-century ago. This time, NASA won’t own the suits.

Under the terms of the contracts issued for Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services, or xEVAS, Collins Aerospace and Axiom Space will own the spacesuits. They’ll also be free to explore non-NASA commercial applications for the data and the technologies they develop in partnership with NASA.

NASA will purchase services from Collins and Axiom to fill the space agency’s spacewalking (and moonwalking) needs through 2034. The contracts have a combined maximum potential value of $3.5 billion, with the actual payout for each company determined by how NASA divvies up its task orders.

The model builds upon the precedents set by NASA’s commercialization of crew transport and cargo delivery services for the space station. A similar model was followed last year when NASA awarded a $2.9 billion contract to SpaceX for the Artemis program’s lunar lander.

“With these awards, NASA and our partners will develop advanced, reliable spacesuits that allow humans to explore the cosmos unlike ever before,” Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said today in a news release. “By partnering with industry, we are efficiently advancing the necessary technology to keep Americans on a path of successful discovery on the International Space Station and as we set our sights on exploring the lunar surface.”

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Virgin Galactic shows off Under Armour spacewear

Virgin Galactic spacewear
Virgin Galactic’s billionaire founder, Richard Branson, joins the younger set in modeling the line of spacewear created in partnership with Under Armour. (Virgin Galactic Photo / Stephen Counts)

It’s a bit of a stretch to call them spacesuits, but the “spacewear” clothing line unveiled today by Virgin Galactic and Under Armour looks comfortable enough to wear even if you’re not rocketing to the edge of space.

The Under Armour clothing line — which includes a base layer, a spacesuit that’s really a beefed-up flight suit, and zippered flight boots — made its debut at a New York runway show, and will get its space premiere during test flights for Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane.

Next year, Virgin Galactic’s customers are due to wear the custom-made space duds when they climb on board for suborbital trips past the 50-mile space milestone at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

“I love the way the spacewear looks, and I love the way it feels,” Virgin Galactic’s billionaire founder, Richard Branson, said in a news release. “I also love the fact that the next time I put it on, I will be on my way to space.”

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NASA unveils red, white and blue spacesuit for moon

NASA spacesuits
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine looks on as spacesuit engineer Kristine Davis models a red-white-and-blue prototype for NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit; and Dustin Gohmert, project manager for Orion Crew Survival Systems, gives a wave in the Orion Crew Survival System suit. (NASA Photo / Joel Kowsky)

The fashion statement for NASA’s future moonwalkers goes beyond basic white to add some flag-worthy touches of red and blue.

But the color scheme for the “pumpkin suits” that astronauts wear during launches and landings is relatively unchanged, due to practical considerations. It turns out that the old orange, with a few blue accents added, is the new orange.

Both suit designs had their debut today at NASA Headquarters as part of the buildup to the Artemis moon program, which is due to put the first woman and the next man on the lunar surface by as early as 2024.

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SpaceX’s Elon Musk shows off full spacesuit

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYyvO2WA3Ra/

We’ve already gotten our first peek at the spacesuit that astronauts will wear when they’re riding in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship, but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk set hearts racing once again today when he sent out a picture showing the spacesuit being modeled next to the Dragon 2.

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Elon Musk reveals SpaceX’s spacesuit

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYIPmEFAIIn/

The spacesuit designed to be worn aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule turns up the coolness dial for spaceflight, as befits a company that’s a corporate cousin of the Tesla electric-car venture.

“Was incredibly hard to balance esthetics and function,” Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of both companies, said today in a first-look Instagram post. “Easy to do either separately.”

Musk said the suit has already gone through rounds of pressure tests in a vacuum chamber. “Worth noting that this actually works (not a mockup),” he wrote.

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Boeing reboots spacesuits for Starliner

Chris Ferguson in spacesuit
Boeing’s Chris Ferguson, a former astronaut, models the Starliner spacesuit. (Boeing via YouTube)

The spacesuit designed for astronauts riding Boeing’s Starliner space taxi makes a fashion statement for the 21st century, from its touchscreen-sensitive gloves to its color-coordinated shoes.

And all of it in Boeing blue.

The spacesuit made its public debut today during a media extravaganza at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with former NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson as one of the emcees.

“I was essentially the model for this as they built the suit around me,” said Ferguson, who commanded the final space shuttle mission in 2011 and now serves as Boeing’s director of crew and mission systems.

The CST-100 Starliner is being developed as a transport vehicle for NASA crews heading to and from the International Space Station.

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