NASA's Artemis Mission To Moon Unveils New Spacesuit Designed By Prada (spacenews.com)
- Reference: 0175285545
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/10/19/1656219/nasas-artemis-mission-to-moon-unveils-new-spacesuit-designed-by-prada
- Source link: https://spacenews.com/axiom-and-prada-unveil-design-of-artemis-spacesuit/
And they'll be wearing Prada, according to [2]a Space News report from Milan :
> At a briefing at the International Astronautical Congress here October 16, Axiom and Prada revealed details about the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) suit that Axiom is creating for use by NASA on lunar landing missions starting with Artemis 3... Axiom emphasized the advanced capabilities in the suit, particularly when compared to the suits worn by the Apollo astronauts on moonwalks more than a half-century ago [including greater redundancy and healthy monitoring systems not available in Apollo-era suits]...
>
> The unveiling came just over a year after Axiom [3]announced it was working with luxury goods company Prada , an unconventional partnership intended to leverage Prada's expertise in materials and design... [Axiom's executive VP of extravehicular activity Russell Ralston] said Axiom has leveraged Prada's expertise in fabrics and garment design in helping create the outer layer of the suit, which reflects sunlight and keeps dust from getting into interior layers... "If you look across all the different technologies that are needed within the suit, the uniqueness of those technologies and their application, the supply chain has tended to be pretty unstable," he said. "So, one of the things that Prada has really helped us with is bringing stability to that base, especially on the fabric side...."
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> Not surprisingly, Prada also contributed to the appearance of the suit. "One of the things that was important to us was the appeal of the suit, the look of the suit," Ralston said. "Something that Prada brought to the table was helping with the general aesthetic of the suit." One design aspect that brought the two companies together was a prominent red stripe on the suit. Ralston noted that was a nod to a NASA tradition where the mission commander's suit would have that red stripe to distinguish them from another spacewalker...
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> While the current focus of the suit is for walking on the moon, Ralston said the suit can be easily adapted for applications in low Earth orbit, such as spacewalks from the International Space Station or Axiom's future commercial space station.
The article adds that 30 people worked on the suit (full- or part-time). "These suits will give the astronauts increased range of motion and flexibility to explore more of the landscape than on previous lunar missions," [4]according to NASA .
With "the ability to send high quality images and video to the ground with advanced communication technology, they will be sharing a unique new human experience with the world."
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [5]schwit1 for sharing the news.
[1] https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/
[2] https://spacenews.com/axiom-and-prada-unveil-design-of-artemis-spacesuit/
[3] https://spacenews.com/axiom-space-partners-with-prada-on-artemis-spacesuits/
[4] https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-iii/
[5] https://www.slashdot.org/~schwit1
The Moon Nazis are coming! (Score:2)
This headline reads like something from Iron Sky.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, [1]the Moon Nazis still wear Hugo Boss attire [wikipedia.org], so it will become a fashion battle!
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Boss#Manufacturing_for_the_Nazi_Party
It's Prada and yet (Score:2)
It'll probably be the cheapest item in this entire boondoggle of a space program.
Re: (Score:2)
Boondoggle: hmmm, maybe. I'm undecided on the current space program. I think it's gotten a lot better since the days of the space shuttle which was a piece of shit design and a piece of shit engineering/build. They have had some really great successes with the Mars rovers, putting the new telescope up flawlessly, and somehow managing to keep the voyager craft alive and communicating. Yet, plenty of other things they spend money on are pure bullshit and piss me off.
This return to the moon stuff could go
Re:It's Prada and yet (Score:4, Informative)
The problem is Boeing and other contractors became run by crooks with MBAs (non-engineer management/finance type goons). For example, in the late 70s Daniel J Haughton was the CEO and then in the 80s Robert Haack ran Lockheed. And in Boeing's case it was Malcolm T. Stamper, a sales guy who became CEO in 1972 (after the 747, their last non-incrementally innovative airplane, was in service). And then in the 80s it was Frank A. Shrontz .. a lawyer. None of those people gave a shit about engineering, science, they certainly weren't into building visionary shit. It was all about "how do we get the biggest defense contracts for the least output". They didn't want to take any risk, they didn't want to make fully re-usable rockets, they didn't truly give a shit about returning to the moon (unless they could calculate a huge pay day from it).
The Astronaut Wears Prada (Score:2)
Don't count on it being the cheapest. In the Apollo program the suits cost 15-22 million each, which accounting for inflation is like $150 million.
Wow (Score:2)
And all Prada could come up with is this ugly looking suit? So another overpaid crap design paid for by the taxpayers. Even the china designed suit looks better.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not even as ugly as they could have made if it had not to also be functional.
I find that branded items from the most expensive brands are commonly "ugly", it's kind of an artistic statement for them, and part of letting the customer being recognized from far as member of the select club. It's very obvious with branded spectacles. The more expensive, the thicker and weirder the frames.
"experts in fabric" (Score:2)
Yes, let's trust our lives to the expertise of people who sell overpriced clothing.
Design cache? (Score:2)
Does anyone here know the design house cache and portfolio enough to know if this suit is representative of the name or design house? Or is it just fabrics, which I didn't know they were into aerospace textiles. But in other words, is there any Prada influence in it? I don't see it. For those who may not understand, it's like "The Fifth Element", it's quite obvious that Gaultier designed every costume, he has a "look". Anyway I though Prada was purses and bags and shoes, which are usually animal skin or com
Red Stripe (Score:1)
"a nod to a NASA tradition where the mission commander's suit would have that red stripe to distinguish them from another spacewalker"
I thought the red stripe was for the expendable crewmember...
Brand recognition (Score:3)
They are just paying a lot for the brand recognition, that way they can sell a lot to the NASA fan base.
Re: (Score:3)
It certainly seems unlikely that Prada has any experience with fabrics in vacuum, hard UV, holding in an atmosphere, and withstanding and insulating against temperatures well outside the human body's tolerance range, all while remaining flexible and puncture-resistant.
There's a LOT more than pretty fabrics involved.
Re: (Score:2)
I know next to nothing about fashion in general or Prada in particular, but I understand it's a "luxury brand", presumably meaning they make stuff that's useless but expensive, conspicuous consumption to enhance the social status of people who have a lot of money and want everyone to know it. So maybe that explains how Artemis has been able to waste $100 billion without producing, like, a workable spaceship or anything. (Granted, there was an uncrewed test flight around the moon two years ago. For compariso
Re: (Score:2)
That didn't seem to cause International Latex Corporation (more well known for Playtex bras) any problems during the Apollo era.
I think the primary criteria here is likely to be experience with joining different fabrics and other materials together securely, which pretty much any upmarket fashion house almost certainly has because their stuff generally lasts a lifetime if you treat it right, fast fashion... not so much. Everything else, including specifications on the materials to be sewn together and w
Re: (Score:2)
yeah... reading a couple of the linked articles there really wasn't much convincing info about what Prada brought to the table. Some vague statements about supply chain expertise and layering of fabrics. I suspect that some extreme outdoor gear companies would've had considerably more relevant experience and expertise on performance fabrics and design for light weight and athleticism...
I'm pretty skeptical that they were really one of the better options for a partner. maybe one of the things was that they
Re: (Score:2)
> It certainly seems unlikely that Prada has any experience with fabrics in vacuum, hard UV, holding in an atmosphere, and withstanding and insulating against temperatures well outside the human body's tolerance range, all while remaining flexible and puncture-resistant.
I don't know... The Devil wore Prada.
Have you met my ex-wife?