Prada styles spacesuit design for Moon Return – Picture of the Day

Of course, it is no longer a suit, it is the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit…

Hostile environment

To be fair, there is a lot of technology in the design, particularly around safety and reliability. For example, there is an an onboard diagnostic system, biometric monitoring, and a suit control interface. Additionally, there’s support for 4G/LTE comms, lighting, a HD camera and there’s provision of “in-suit nutrition”.

The suit also uses a regenerable carbon dioxide scrubbing system and a cooling technology to remove heat from the system.

It includes advanced coatings on the helmet and visor to enhance the astronauts’ view of their surroundings, as well as custom gloves made in-house featuring several advancements over the gloves used today. The spacesuit architecture includes life support systems, pressure garments, avionics and other innovative systems to meet exploration needs and expand scientific opportunities.

There are also specialized tools to aid exploring the lunar south pole.

Astronauts will be able to perform spacewalks for at least eight hours, says Axiom. And the suit will also withstand extreme temperatures at the lunar south pole and endure the coldest temperatures in the permanently shadowed regions for at least two hours.

Testing

The AxEMU suit is nearing its final development stage, according to Axiom Space. It completed a successful pressurized simulation with Artemis III partners – NASA, SpaceX, and Axiom Space.

Testing was also conducted underwater to simulate the lunar environment – with an unoccupied spacesuit, note – at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL). And there were reduced gravity simulations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

You can see the full infographic of the spacesuit.

During development – which we pictured before – Axiom Space used a dark cover layer for display purposes to conceal the suit’s proprietary technology. Actually, the spacesuit for the lunar surface is made from a white material. This will to reflect heat and protect astronauts from extreme high temperatures and lunar dust.

“Our elite teams have redefined spacesuit development, establishing new pathways to innovative solutions and applying a state-of-the-art design approach for the AxEMU,” said Matt Ondler, Axiom Space President. “We have broken the mold. The Axiom Space-Prada partnership has set a new foundational model for cross-industry collaboration, further expanding what’s possible in commercial space.”

Prada

On the Prada side, the company highlights the use of performance materials and specialised sewing techniques.

“The suit accommodates a wide range of crewmembers, including males and females from the first to 99th percentile,” it says.

Axiom’s work with Prada is a result of its public-private agreement with NASA

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Image: Axiom Space

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