NASA plans to upgrade astronaut spacesuits to explore lunar south pole

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - NASA seems to be quite busy these days with missions like flying the first helicopter on Mars, and earlier this year space crews were able to gather specimens from the asteroid Bennu.

Now NASA has a new project in the works. The space agency plans to improve spacesuits and support systems in order to send astronauts to unexplored parts of the moon to ‘develop a sustainable presence’.

The next generation of moonwalkers will need brand new apparel to enable exploration of the ‘inhospitable’ lunar south pole for the very first time.

Although a date for such a mission has not been set, NASA says it’s preparing to send crews through the Artemis program, which will land the first woman and next man on the moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.

A commercial partner with NASA is said to design, develop, build, assemble, test and maintain equipment specifically for this mission, including spacesuits and any hardware necessary for success.

In addition to the production of the spacesuits, NASA is requesting industry feedback on the continued design evolution of the suits along with their production and sustaining services.