NASA signs up new contractor to dress up astronauts for moon landing

NASA has decided to sign a deal with a new company to make spacesuits for astronauts within the scope of its new lunar exploration program which sees another landing on the Moon some time by 2020.

Photo: NASA signs up new contractor to dress up astronauts for moon landing

NASA signs up new contractor to dress up astronauts for moon landing

Spacesuits will now be made by Oceaneering International Inc., a Houston-based company. The 745-million-dollar contract includes design, evaluation, production and testing of two types of spacesuits. The first type of them will be used during the traveling on NASA’s new Orion spaceships and emergency spacewalks. The second type of spacesuits will be used for working on the surface of the Moon.

The first suits are said to be ready in 2015 when NASA’s Orion first spaceship will make its debut flight.

The spacesuits, which astronauts use now are designed for working under conditions of weightlessness and cannot be used for walking on the Moon.

NASA plans to end its space shuttle program in 2010 and start developing the Orion spacecraft that will be capable of taking astronauts to the ISS as well as to the Moon.

Oceaneering International Inc. is an applied technology company based in Houston, Texas, U.S.A. that provides engineered services and hardware to customers who operate in marine, space, and other environments. It was founded in 1964.

It helped recover the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley, which sank in 1864.

Oceaneering's services and products are marketed worldwide to oil and gas companies, government agencies, and firms in the telecommunications, aerospace, and marine engineering and construction industries. Its business offerings include remotely operated vehicles, mobile offshore production systems, built-to-order specialty hardware, engineering and project management, subsea intervention and installation services, non-destructive testing and inspections, manned diving, and space suits.

Source: agencies