SpaceX's spacesuit is designed to operate in both pressurized and unpressurized environments, offering greater mobility and comfort than previous suits.
Elon Musk's SpaceX has unveiled a new Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suit, a significant development in commercial spaceflight.
Hailed as an engineering marvel, the suit is operational both inside and outside the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Key Differences from NASA and Roscosmos Suits
The EVA suit differs from those used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Roscosmos, Russia's national space agency. It is less bulky and designed for greater flexibility and comfort, according to IFLScience on May 9.
The EVA suit builds on SpaceX's Intravehicular Activity (IVA) suit, which astronauts wear while traveling to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Crew Dragon.
Improved Features for Spacewalks
It can operate in both pressurized and unpressurized environments and includes new improvements and redundancies to enhance reliability during spacewalks.
Customizable Assembly
The SpaceX suit also boasts modular assembly. Different components can be manufactured and assembled to accommodate the size of the wearer, avoiding a situation like the canceled first all-female spacewalk when NASA lacked a suit in the correct size.
Future Implications
SpaceX envisions these suits accompanying millions to the Moon and Mars in the future.
Polaris Dawn Mission
SpaceX will soon test the new suits on their first Polaris Program mission, Polaris Dawn. In this mission, a Dragon spacecraft will reach an orbit of 700 kilometers from Earth. SpaceX has not announced a specific timeline for this mission, but it is expected to take place no earlier than this summer.
This will mark the first commercial spacewalk and the first time four individuals have performed a spacewalk simultaneously. The mission will also take the crew farther than any previous private astronaut venture.
Scientific Research and Starlink Testing
Over five days, the team will conduct scientific experiments to better understand the effects of space travel on human physiology.
They will also become the first space travelers to test communication via the Starlink satellite system in space. SpaceX views this as a vital technological development for future communications in deep space, around Earth, the Moon, and potentially Mars.
NASA is also testing this type of communication, having relayed messages from beyond the Red Planet's orbit.