NASA astronauts have used almost the same spacesuit for the last 40 years but soon, they’ll have a new design, one that will allow a new range of motion. Even more fascinating, the costume designer who worked on Apple’s incredible series For All Mankind actually contributed to this development.
Called the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or AxEMU, NASa’s next-gen spacesuits are based on developments made for its Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) prototype, and will allow astronauts to do things like never before.
As you’ll see in the announcement video, Jim Stein, chief engineer at Axiom Space, shows how the new suits allows astronauts to twist, bend, squat, and crouch down while wearing it.
Even getting it on is different. While the previous suit design, which you’ve seen at NASA and in countless NASA-inspired movies, required astronauts to enter the suit from the bottom, then add the top half, the new AxEMU suit lets them enter it from the back.
As The Verge reports, the prototype for the new NASA astronauts spacesuits includes a dark gray cover that was designed by Esther Marquis, the costume designer for Apple’s TV series for All Mankind. However, the actual suits astronauts will wear on the Artemis III mission to the moon will be all white, for thermal reasons.
Also read: How the Producers of For All Mankind Rebuilt Apple’s Ancient Assistant, the Newton MessagePad
“NASA’s partnership with Axiom is critical to landing astronauts on the Moon and continuing American leadership in space. Building on NASA’s years of research and expertise, Axiom’s next generation spacesuits will not only enable the first woman to walk on the Moon, but they will also open opportunities for more people to explore and conduct science on the Moon than ever before,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.
Also read: NASA Movies Marathon: The Most Scientifically Accurate Space Movies You Should Watch
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