A lot goes into it NASA’s Artemis IV missionpromising to return humans to the moon for the first time in 50 years. Among the various moving pieces is a new line of space suits created by Axiom Space and Prada. Yes, the fashion giant.
The two companies launched the Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment on Sunday during an event at the Prada store in Manhattan. Its purpose is to serve as the inner lining of the AxEMU space suit developed by Axiom Space and Prada. The jumpsuit is fitted to the astronaut’s body so that the various cooling systems work properly.
Prada and Axiom didn’t sacrifice fashion, either, as the suit’s form-fitting nature and tube design look cool and wouldn’t be too bad for the runway.
Axiom Space and Prada developed the garment in tandem, with Prada handling the knitting, production and design while Axiom Space worked on the liner’s cooling and ventilation system. Both systems are important, as human bodies produce a lot of “metabolic heat”, according to Axiom Space. The liner helps dissipate heat so that astronauts don’t overheat during the long journeys expected during space travel. Work of Artemis IV.
“Every minute astronauts spend outside their vehicle, LCVG is working to keep them safe,” said Russell Ralston, Axiom Space’s senior vice president of Spacecraft Development. “It controls their hot spot, supports their breathing and does it all while pushing their bodies to the limit.”
At the time of the announcement, Prada said the suit was not only used for NASA’s Artemis IV mission but was also sold to space companies such as Green Origin and SpaceX to be used in commercial endeavors in space such as space tourism, where a spiffy designer suit would be right at home.
Artemis IV aims to launch in early 2028, following the successful mission of Artemis II to the moon earlier this year, and the planned mission of Artemis III in mid-2027. Artemis III will enter low-Earth orbit, meet with NASA’s lunar occupants, conduct experiments and learn more about the effects of lunar microgravity. Artemis IV will return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.
How does a space suit work?
The LCVG is designed to be paired with the AxEMU space suit, also made by Axiom Space and Prada.
The suit’s two primary functions are keeping astronauts cool during long space missions and helping them breathe in the vacuum of space. It accomplishes these actions through a series of tubes that run throughout the astronaut’s body, delivering cooling and air while the astronauts do their thing.
“The LCVG circulates cold water through a network of tubes that are routed throughout the body’s major body groups, absorbing and carrying the heat to the suit’s portable life support system, where it will then be ejected into space,” Axiom Space said in an announcement. “Unlike legacy cooling suits, the Axiom Space LCVG has a completely redundant cooling circuit, ensuring that a backup system is available if the main loop fails.”
In addition to its cooling, the suit is also breathable. It is designed to blow fresh oxygen into the astronaut’s face to “wash” the exhaled carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is taken up by the system, recirculated and returned as oxygen.
While the LCVG keeps the astronauts comfortable, the AxEMU suit protects them from other problems, such as the bitter cold of the moon’s south pole. It also has a recirculation system that converts carbon dioxide back into oxygen, various electrical systems, the basis of life and more.
According to Axiom Space, the suit and liner should keep astronauts cool and protected in space for up to eight hours straight, while the suit can withstand the cold of the moon’s shadow for up to two hours.
