. 24/7 Space News .
SPACE TRAVEL
NASA spacesuits over budget, tight on timeline: audit
By Kerry SHERIDAN
Miami (AFP) April 26, 2017


The United States is in a hurry to send people to Mars by the 2030s, but a key question remains for these deep space explorers: what will they wear?

An audit report out Wednesday by the NASA Office of the Inspector General found that the US space agency has spent lots of money and time on developing new spacesuits, but has little to show for it.

"Despite spending nearly $200 million on NASA's next-generation spacesuit technologies, the Agency remains years away from having a flight-ready spacesuit," said the report.

The white, bulky spacesuits worn mainly by US and European astronauts when they float outside the International Space Station "were developed more than 40 years ago and have far outlasted their original 15-year design life."

Each suit has been refurbished over the years, with new features like glove warmers, improved helmet cameras and lights.

But the suits have suffered an increasing number of problems, such as water leaking inside the helmets.

In 2013, the helmet of Italian spacewalker Luca Parmitano's suit began filling with water, an emergency that risked drowning him.

He quickly ended his spacewalk and returned to the space station to remove his headpiece. He was rattled but unharmed.

Among other concerns raised by the report, just 11 of the original 18 life-support backpacks, known as extravehicular mobility units (EMU) and which keep astronauts alive in the vacuum of space, still work.

"The inventory may not be adequate to last through the planned retirement of the ISS" in 2024, said the report.

- New designs needed -

Even beyond these technical mishaps, NASA's current gear would simply not be suitable for deep space.

Next-generation spacesuits need to have better dust shields and more flexible hip sections so people can wear them while walking on the ground, whether inside a spaceship or on alien terrain.

They will also need stronger radiation protection, and adjustments for going to the toilet on long-duration missions.

NASA last year announced a "Poop Challenge," asking inventors to produce their best in-suit ideas for whisking away urine and stool, hands-free, for up to six days.

Among the winners was a physician who was inspired by surgical techniques that use small openings for his design, which included a small crotch-based airlock through which diapers and other sanitary items could be passed.

Currently astronauts wear a diaper during spacewalks and journeys from Earth to space.

- Changing plans -

Another complication? The United States keeps changing its mind on its next space destination.

NASA has spent $135.6 million on suits that could be worn on the Moon, but that program, called Constellation, was cancelled during the Barack Obama administration.

Still, NASA continued to fund "a contract associated with the Constellation Program after... a recommendation made by Johnson Space Center officials in 2011 to cancel the contract," said the report.

"Rather than terminate the contract, NASA paid the contractor $80.8 million between 2011 and 2016 for spacesuit technology development, despite parallel development activities being conducted within NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Division."

More than $51 million has also been spent on the Advanced Space Suit Project, and $12 million on the Orion Crew Survival System, for suits that could be worn into deep space.

But any of these would need to be tested aboard the ISS prior to its scheduled retirement in 2024.

And NASA is squeezed on time and money, having reduced the funding dedicated to spacesuit development in favor of other priorities such as an in-space habitat, the report said.

"Given the current development schedule, a significant risk exists that a next-generation spacesuit prototype will not be sufficiently mature in time to test it on the ISS prior to 2024."

Even if the Orion Crew Survival System spacesuit is ready as planned by March 2021, that leaves just five months until the first crew mission beyond low-Earth orbit, scheduled for August 2021 aboard the Orion spaceship.

The audit urged NASA to come up with a "formal plan for design, production, and testing" that aligns with the goals of the US space agency, crew needs, and the planned retirement of the ISS in 2024.

It also called for studies to compare the cost of maintaining the current spacesuit and developing and testing a next-generation spacesuit.

The report said NASA "concurred with our recommendations and described its corrective actions," and that the matter would be considered resolved once the actions were verified.

Spacesuits have kept humans alive since 1965, when they were first worn by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov and months later, by US astronaut Edward White as they ventured outside space capsules that orbited the Earth.

SPACE TRAVEL
Russia, Europe, US Should Work Together on Space Exploration - German Agency
Moscow (Sputnik) Apr 06, 2017
Russia, Europe, the United States and other countries should cooperate on decoding how to proceed with international space exploration in the future, German Aerospace Center (DLR) Chairman Pascale Ehrenfreund told Sputnik. "Internationally, we are trying to achieve a vision for international space exploration," Ehrenfreund stated. "The major space powers like Russia, Japan, the US, Europe, ... read more

Related Links
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

SPACE TRAVEL
12 Scientist-Astronaut Candidates Graduate at Embry-Riddle Through Project PoSSUM

Elon Musk teases future plans at TED

NASA spacesuits over budget, tight on timeline: audit

AGU journal commentaries highlight importance of Earth and space science research

SPACE TRAVEL
India to launch GSAT-9 communication satellite on May 5: ISRO

SpaceX launches classified payload for NRO; 1st Stage returns to LZ-1

India seeks status as a major space power with more satellite launches

New Russian Medium-Class Carrier Rocket Could Compete With SpaceX's Falcon

SPACE TRAVEL
How Old are Martian Gullies

Opportunity Nears 'Perseverance Valley'

Engineers investigate simple, no-bake recipe to make bricks on Mars

SwRI-led team discovers lull in Mars' giant impact history

SPACE TRAVEL
China to conduct several manned space flights around 2020

China's cargo spacecraft completes in-orbit refueling

China courts international coalition set up to promote space cooperation

Commentary: Innovation drives China's space exploration

SPACE TRAVEL
ViaSat-2 Satellite to Launch on June 1

Arianespace, Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT sign a new Launch Services Agreement, for Horizons 3e

ESA boosting its Argentine link with deep space

Airbus and Intelsat team up for more capacity

SPACE TRAVEL
Diamond quantum sensor reveals current flows in next-gen materials

System can 3-D print an entire building

Berkeley Lab scientists discover new atomically layered, thin magnet

Augmented reality increases maintenance reliability at a space station

SPACE TRAVEL
ISS investigation aims to identify unknown microbes in space

Research Center A Hub For Origins of Life Studies

'Iceball' Planet Discovered Through Microlensing

'On Verge of Most Profound Discovery Ever,' NASA Tells US Congress

SPACE TRAVEL
ALMA investigates 'DeeDee,' a distant, dim member of our solar system

Nap Time for New Horizons

Hubble spots auroras on Uranus

Cold' Great Spot discovered on Jupiter









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.