Prada, the luxury fashion house, will design next-generation space suits for NASA. The mission is scheduled to launch in 2025.
Prada tweeted, “In the first partnership between an Italian luxury fashion house and a commercial space company, Prada’s engineers are working alongside @Axiom_Space to help design spacesuits for NASA’s Artemis III lunar mission planned for 2025”, through its official ‘X’ handle.
In the first partnership between an Italian luxury fashion house and a commercial space company, Prada’s engineers are working alongside @Axiom_Space to help design spacesuits for NASA’s Artemis III lunar mission planned for 2025. https://t.co/iYHo6Rd1ts. #Prada #AxEMU pic.twitter.com/TmkGIo5RoH
— PRADA (@Prada) October 4, 2023
Prada stated in a release that they will add expertise in materials and manufacturing to the project.
“Prada has considerable experience with various types of composite fabrics and may actually be able to make some real technical contributions to the outer layers of the new space suit”, explained Professor Jeffrey Hoffman, who flew five NASA missions and performed four spacewalks.
He did, however, emphasize that these space suits will not be fancy because in severe environments like space, keeping a proper thermal environment is vital.
“A spacesuit is really like a miniature spacecraft. It has to provide pressure, and oxygen, and keep you at a reasonable temperature” Professor Hoffman continued.
The new spacesuits are believed to give astronauts with advanced capabilities for space exploration.
“Prada’s technical expertise with raw materials, manufacturing techniques, and innovative design concepts will bring advanced technologies instrumental in ensuring not only the comfort of astronauts on the lunar surface but also the much-needed human factors considerations absent from legacy spacesuits”, Michael Suffredini, the company’s chief executive officer, stated.
These suits are expected to provide astronauts with a greater range of motion and flexibility, allowing them to explore more of the lunar landscape than on prior missions.
NASA released the prototype design for the Artemis III space suits earlier this year.
SpaceX has been chosen to transport astronauts to the moon for a human landing on the Earth’s satellite. After a few weeks on the lunar surface, they will be returned to Earth.
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