By Bernd Debusmann Jr.
Business reporter.
The image is from the same source.
The image caption is.
The space shuttle Challenger has astronauts in it.
The first spacewalk by US astronauts in nearly a decade took place on 7 April 1983, when Don Peterson and Story Musgrave stepped out of the space shuttle Challenger.
The men floated in the shuttle's cargo bay for four hours.
They were wearing a revolutionary departure from the custom-built, one-off spacesuits of the past.
The Extravehicular Mobility Units, or EMUs, were two-piece, semi-rigid suits with 14 layers, designed to protect astronauts during extravehicular activity.
The suits had everything from communications gear to adult nappies.
The image is from the same source.
The image caption is.
It would take another $1 billion to develop new spacesuits.
The spacesuit fashion stakes have not changed since 1983.
The space agency's attempts to develop new improved spacesuits have had limited success. A report from the inspector general of Nasa states that the agency has spent $420m over the last 14 years.
The report states that a flight ready suit is years away from completion and that Nasa officials expect to spend a further $1 billion on design, testing, qualification and development efforts before two flight ready suits are available for use.
The programme to return to the Moon in 2024 is likely to be held up by the delay to spacesuits.
The image is from NASA.
The image caption is.
Artemis missions to the Moon's South Pole are likely to be delayed.
Private sector proposals for the new suits were called for by the Johnson Space Center. They would be used for spacewalks on the International Space Station.
"Our undertakings in low-earth orbit, at the Moon and beyond, have evolved and are calling for innovative technology," Pam Melroy said in a statement.
The first woman on the moon will be kept safe in revolutionary spacesuits that fit better and enable greater human exploration than ever before.
The Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit is a new system being built by Nasa.
The xEMU will only be used for planetary spacewalks on the Moon, Mars, and perhaps other bodies like asteroids, though it is planned to be modified for in-flight spacewalks.
The image is from NASA.
The image caption is.
The orange and xEMU spacesuits are designed to take astronauts back to the Moon and beyond.
It will have a rear-entry hatch, improved joints, and a new communications system.
The design will be able to fit all sizes of astronauts. In the past, Nasa had trouble finding spacesuits for smaller female astronauts.
The crew will wear the suit during the launch and return to Earth.
One or more contracts for the new suits are expected to be awarded by the following spring, with proposals due on 1 December. A demonstration spacewalk is planned for as early as 2023.
"Nasa's investment in commercial spacesuits is another way that we are fostering a new lunar economy with private partners," Ms Melroy's statement added. This endeavor will create jobs and help fuel an active economy at the Moon.
Musk said that his company, SpaceX, could do it if need be.
The image is from the same source.
The image caption is.
The Crew Dragon spaceship has flight suits for astronauts.
Sean O'Keefe, a former administrator of Nasa, told the BBC that he was not surprised that the space agency had turned to the private sector for help.
Mr O'Keefe, who is now a professor at Syracuse University, said that every variant of the space suit was developed in concert with the private sector.
He said that the control over the performance requirements for the suit has largely been driven by the fact that only government-sponsored and trained astronauts have lived and worked in space.
"Now that the commercial space industry has demonstrated an ability to develop a space access transportation market, these companies will surely come up with new ideas on operational performance characteristics based on their evolving experiences."
The current EMU model was only slightly upgraded in the 1990s and is specifically designed for spacewalks around the International Space Station.
The image is from the same source.
The image caption is.
The International Space Station has two astronauts on it on 13 September 2006
Daniel Burbank, a former astronaut, was the only one to use a space suit at the station.
Mr Burbank says that spacesuits have remained largely unchanged because they are now used for the International Space Station.
The design of the spacesuit is aligned to the needs of the space station, says Mr Burbank, a senior technology fellow at Collins.
There are a lot of critical things that could happen to the space station that provide it's environment. We need to be able to get spacesuits on quickly if those fail.
The current EMU's gloves work with tools, the boots fit into portable foot restrains, and even the size is built with the space shuttle in mind.
The image is from NASA.
The image caption is.
Daniel Burbank is on the International Space Station.
The Artemis programme will return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972, and new spacesuits will have to work for it.
Each of the astronauts was given a tailor-made A7L suit, one for the mission, one for training, and one spare.
They had multiple layers to protect the wearer from heat, abrasion and micrometeoroids which could puncture the suit.
It was one of the space suits Neil Armstrong wore during the Apollo 11 landing.
The current EMUs weigh over 200 stones and would be too heavy and unwieldy for the next generation of astronauts.
The suit that the crew of the Space Station are wearing is not suited for a gravity environment.
The image is from Collins Aerospace.
The image caption is.
Existing models of spacesuits will not be suitable for the moon.
The private sector and the proliferation of commercial space missions will be the main drivers of future spacesuit innovations, according to both Mr O'Keefe and Mr Burbank.
The private sector is constantly developing technology applications to stretch performance, efficiency, lower costs and improve quality. It's a race against other commercial competitors for market share and brand recognition.
The experience of floating above the Earth in a spacesuit was one of the most rewarding aspects of Mr Burbank's time in space, and he hopes that future space explorers will be able to share it.
Mr Burbank said he flew over the Himalayas at eight kilometres per second.
You don't want to come in. He says that you want to stay out there as long as you can, looking at the earth. We want more people to experience that.
