Under such conditions trapped air can expand and tear fragile tissues in the lungs' air sacs. His team is 'picking the brains' of former Apollo spacesuit designers and looking at current suits worn by shuttle astronauts to prepare for a preliminary design review in 2010.Īll spacesuit designs must protect humans from the grim effects of depressurization, which occurs during sudden exposure to a vacuum. 'We want someone in our suit to have the mobility of a geologist on Earth,' says Raul Blanco, deputy manager of the EVA (Extravehicular Activity) systems project for Constellation, NASA's current program aimed at sending humans beyond low Earth orbit. Now NASA wants more flexible garb that can also endure longer moon missions. The revision comes 40 years after Apollo astronauts first hopped and skipped across the lunar landscape. The space agency has its sights set on a new spacesuit for astronauts returning to the moon within the next decade or so-a more traditional design that will seek to balance protection and mobility. Skintight spacesuits may look good in the recent Star Trek movie, but they don't fit NASA's future plans-not yet, anyway.

Star trek eva suit