SpaceX has recently unveiled a new extravehicular activity (EVA) spacesuit, designed for space tourists to venture outside the Crew Dragon spacecraft in orbit. The suit is set to debut in the upcoming Polaris Dawn mission, which will see a crew of four space tourists stepping out of the capsule for a spacewalk.
The new EVA suit is remarkably slim compared to traditional bulky spacesuits. The helmet, made of 3D-printed parts and a visor, features a Heads-Up Display (HUD) and camera. These allow astronauts to monitor the suit’s pressure, temperature, and relative humidity without having to look away from the Earth below. The HUD can also display a mission clock to track the duration of various EVA tasks.
This new suit represents a significant leap in technology, bringing 21st-century tech to an area of space exploration that has seen little change since the Apollo days. However, there’s still much we don’t know about the suit or how the HUD functions.
The EVA suit bears a striking resemblance to the company’s Intravehicular Activity (IVA) suit, which astronauts have been wearing since the first crewed launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft four years ago. Despite the aesthetic similarities, the underlying technology has seen significant advancements, as stated by Polaris Dawn commander Jared Isaacman.
The new suit offers a surprisingly high degree of mobility at the shoulders, and spiral zippers make it easy to put on and take off. The boots are constructed from materials borrowed from SpaceX’s Falcon rocket interstage. Unlike traditional spacesuits, this one relies on an umbilical for life support, which could explain its slimmed-down design.
Read more: futurism.com