Another Orion Worry: Spacesuits
Spacewalker Kate Rubins works outside the International Space Station with the SpaceX Dragon space freighter just below her. (Credit: NASA TV)
The NASA Office of Inspector General has published another audit of the agency’s human spaceflight effort, and the watchdog has found yet another area of concern: spacesuits being developed for Orion deep-space missions and the aging ones on the International Space Station.
“Despite spending nearly $200 million on NASA’s next-generation spacesuit technologies, the Agency remains years away from having a flight-ready spacesuit capable of replacing the EMU or suitable for use on future exploration missions,” the audit states. “As different missions require different designs, the lack of a formal plan and specific destinations for future missions has complicated spacesuit development. Moreover, the Agency has reduced the funding dedicated to spacesuit development in favor of other priorities such as an in-space habitat….
“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,” the audit warns. “Finally, little schedule margin exists between anticipated delivery of the Orion Crew Survival System spacesuit in March 2021 and NASA’s current internal launch date of August 2021 for its first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit.”
The schedule would appear to rule out an early flight test of the Orion spacecraft with a crew aboard in 2019. NASA recently completed a review to determine whether the first flight of Orion and its booster, the Space Launch System, could be conducted with a crew. The space agency has not released the results of that review.
Meanwhile, NASA’s aging supply of EVA suits are wearing out.
“NASA continues to manage an array of design and health risks associated with the EMUs used by ISS crew,” the audit adds. “In addition, only 11 of the 18 original EMU Primary Life Support System units – a backpack-like structure that performs a variety of functions required to keep an astronaut alive during a spacewalk – are still in use, raising concerns that the inventory may not be adequate to last through the planned retirement of the ISS. Given these issues, NASA will be challenged to continue to support ISS needs with the current fleet of EMUs through 2024, a challenge that will escalate significantly if Station operations are extended to 2028.”
The IG recommended, and NASA concurred, that the space agency “1) develop and implement a formal plan for design, production, and testing of the next-generation extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits in accordance with the exploration goals of the Agency, crew needs, and the planned retirement of the ISS in 2024; (2) conduct a trade study comparing the cost of maintaining the current EMU spacesuit and developing and testing a next-generation spacesuit; and (3) apply lessons learned from operations of existing EVA and launch, entry, and abort spacesuit systems to the design of future exploration spacesuit systems to ensure mitigation of non-life-threatening health risks or other injuries that could impair mission objectives. ”
The audit’s summary is below.
NASA’s Management and Development of Spacesuits
NASA Office of Inspector General
Report No. IG-17-018
April 26, 2017
[Full Report — PDF]
Why We Performed this Audit
Beginning with the Gemini 4 mission in June 1965, NASA astronauts have ventured outside their spacecraft hundreds of times wearing specialized suits that protect them from the harsh environments of space and provide the oxygen and temperature control necessary to preserve life. The spacesuits NASA astronauts currently use on the International Space Station (ISS or Station) – known as Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMU) – were developed more than 40 years ago and have far outlasted their original 15-year design life.
While maintaining the existing fleet of EMUs for use on the ISS, the Agency has also spent almost $200 million on three spacesuit development efforts to enable human exploration in deep space, including missions to Mars: the Constellation Space Suit System ($135.6 million), Advanced Space Suit Project ($51.6 million), and Orion Crew Survival System ($12 million). A key part of these development efforts will be testing the next-generation spacesuit technologies on the ISS prior to its scheduled retirement in 2024.
In this audit, we examined NASA’s efforts to maintain its existing spacesuits and its plans for and progress in developing its next-generation spacesuits. To complete this work, we interviewed Agency and other relevant officials; analyzed cost, schedule, and performance data; and reviewed relevant reports, documents, and presentations.
What We Found
NASA continues to manage an array of design and health risks associated with the EMUs used by ISS crew. In addition, only 11 of the 18 original EMU Primary Life Support System units – a backpack-like structure that performs a variety of functions required to keep an astronaut alive during a spacewalk – are still in use, raising concerns that the inventory may not be adequate to last through the planned retirement of the ISS. Given these issues, NASA will be challenged to continue to support ISS needs with the current fleet of EMUs through 2024, a challenge that will escalate significantly if Station operations are extended to 2028.
Despite spending nearly $200 million on NASA’s next-generation spacesuit technologies, the Agency remains years away from having a flight-ready spacesuit capable of replacing the EMU or suitable for use on future exploration missions. As different missions require different designs, the lack of a formal plan and specific destinations for future missions has complicated spacesuit development. Moreover, the Agency has reduced the funding dedicated to spacesuit development in favor of other priorities such as an in-space habitat.
After examining these spacesuit development efforts, we question NASA’s decision to continue funding a contract associated with the Constellation Program after cancellation of that Program and a recommendation made by Johnson Space Center officials in 2011 to cancel the contract. 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. Moreover, 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. Finally, little schedule margin exists between anticipated delivery of the Orion Crew Survival System spacesuit in March 2021 and NASA’s current internal launch date of August 2021 for its first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit.
What We Recommended
To maintain the efficacy of the current EMUs and ensure successful development of a next-generation spacesuit, we recommended the Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (1) develop and implement a formal plan for design, production, and testing of the next-generation extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuits in accordance with the exploration goals of the Agency, crew needs, and the planned retirement of the ISS in 2024; (2) conduct a trade study comparing the cost of maintaining the current EMU spacesuit and developing and testing a next-generation spacesuit; and (3) apply lessons learned from operations of existing EVA and launch, entry, and abort spacesuit systems to the design of future exploration spacesuit systems to ensure mitigation of non-life-threatening health risks or other injuries that could impair mission objectives.
20 responses to “Another Orion Worry: Spacesuits”
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“Technically advanced space suits enable astronauts to successfully exit their spacecraft to explore new destinations, and to build and maintain new habitats in space.
In 2009, NASA selected Oceaneering to develop and produce the Constellation Space Suit System (CSSS) – a new space suit for solar system exploration.
The Oceaneering-designed space suit, called the Exploration Suit (EXS), is an effective, safe, affordable and reliable space suit system with a sustainable architecture for human exploration of our solar system.”
http://www.oceaneering.com/…
http://www.oceaneering.com/…
Those are probably the ones the report is referring to.
“After examining these spacesuit development efforts, we question NASA’s
decision to continue funding a contract associated with the Constellation Program after cancellation of that Program and a recommendation made by Johnson Space Center officials in 2011 to cancel the contract. 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.”
When you read about the way they write it up it is a working functioning suit?
IIRC it never got past the pretty mock up and ugly functional test rig stage. You can search for “NASA spacesuit” and see lots of PR photos of them, but nothing certified.
Eventually, when NASA does finally need/want to do something BEO, they will dust off this old work and start development to production. Maybe. If we are lucky. But most likely they will pay them again as if it were from scratch. or even worse, pay even more to get them to actually develop a completely new suit. Because…. NASA.
this really has to stop where we develop something part way, stop, and then have to restart.
Was Bigelow funding research in this area … have you read?
There were rumors and it would make sense, but no pics of showgirls in spacesuits, so I don’t think so.
Sad, just sad.
Sadly predictable
Well, now we know why SpaceX is designing its own suits
uh, correct me if I am wrong, but they are not doing regular space suits, just launch/landing suits. Right?
Launch/landing suits are “regular” space suits. What SpaceX isn’t doing – yet, so far as we know – is an EVA suit. There may or may not be a free-fall EVA suit on SpaceX’s to-do list, but there is certainly a Mars surface EVA suit there.
Given SpaceX’s proclivity to work on things sans publicity for an extended period before “springing” things on the outside world – Super Draco, ASDS, ITS – I’d be amazed if Mars surface suit work isn’t fairly well along by now, either entirely in-house or with a key sub-contractor or two in harness. We’re unlikely to hear squat about this until Elon is good and ready to tell us.
I don’t personally think we, the Great Unwashed, are likely to be told anything much about projected Martian living arrangements until much closer to ITS’s first expeditionary mission. I don’t see that getting off the ground this side of the U.S. sesqui-bicentennial. For the next few years I suspect we’ll be periodically fed more details about ITS development and testing as SpaceX simultaneously settles down to making serious operational money with Falcons.
Meanwhile, the Dragon 2 “commuter suits” – whatever they turn out to be – will undergo the usual SpaceX continual improvements. The Mars EVA suit reveal will probably only occur when the thing is pretty much nailed down and in prototype production. Mid-next decade I should think.
They have this great suitport concept, one of the most ingenious ideas in space flight recently (it might be an old idea, even from von Braun’s one-man spacecrafts for construction work, but only recently have prototypes been built). Such a breakthrough should not have had difficulties getting financed.
It’s as if they are looking for excuses to not launch SLS+Orion. Now they blame ESA for being late with the service module. And here is the plan revealed for the case that one day the SLS+Orion stands ready on the launch pad. NASA’d say:
“-Ooops, we have no spacesuits, sorry. Cancel!”
Great idea? look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wi…
What? The so called disadvantages in your link are wither irrelevant or plain false. How is it more difficult for an injured astronaut to enter a suitport? And since no astronaut ever has been injured in space, it is not an important issue anyway, although it is to the advantage of the suitport.
Didn’t I read that Boeing had developed a new space suit for its Starliner? Or is this also just a mock up too?
I think you may refer to this:
https://www.nasa.gov/featur…
If you read carefully, you see it’s a proposal, perhaps in tests.
This makes me hate US (be it NASA or SpaceX) PR communication. Judging on press kits and tv materials I saw, NASA should have great suits already. Only reading even a convoluted material from GAO you learn that old EVA suits are waaay past their original end of service and they are going defunct one after one (that may e.g. explain issues with water in helmet).
At least written stories on hobby sites are far more precise, thanks Doug.
Btw: you may want to explore Mars suit proposal (Z-2) and others:
https://www.nasa.gov/suitup
To quote the lyrics of the late David Bowie, ” Ground Control to Major Tom, you’re circuits dead, there’s something wrong. Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you hear me Major Tom?”
kind of curious.
Does anybody know what Bigelow and other private habitats are going to do for suits?
Judging from his very liberal news paper, at least Jeff Bezos thinks that trousers are a sexist symbol so he will go for gender neutral space skirts.