NASA has awarded the contract to build the next generation EVA space suits for lunar and Mars missions to the same company that made the Apollo, Shuttle and ISS space suits.
That being said, we can bet the next space suits probably won't look much like the cartoon "aquanaut" in the form-fitting suit depicted in the new Space Camp logo.
ILC Dover, the contractor, says the new Z-2 space suits will closely resemble the Mark III suit from 1988, but with a hard upper torso, the ISS EMU gloves, and new and improved boots upgraded from the Z-1 suit.
It appears NASA has settled on the basic design of the next-generation space suit. It's called the Z-2, a follow-up to the "Buzz Lightyear" Z-1 suit from a couple of years back. It's still not final, but this is where they're going with it.
But the fun doesn't stop there. NASA is now trying their hand at fashion (a marketing ploy to generate public interest, perhaps?). They're having a vote on 3 designer versions of the suit that feature illuminated patterns. There's even an aquatic themed pattern featuring an illuminated jellyfish design (lookout, aquanaut!) Make of it what thy will and cast your vote:
Heck the Gumby 'aquanaut' doesn't look like any spacesuit, either past or suggested for the future.
Has anyone else ever noticed that the 'belt' on the spacesuit in new logo looks oddly like the windows of an STS orbiter?
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