NASA astronauts are set to take high fashion to new heights as Prada has been drafted in to design new spacesuits.
The Italian fashion house will be teaming up with Axiom Space to bring a touch of luxury to suits for the agency’s 2025 moon mission.
AFPThe spacesuit prototype revealed by Axiom Space in March[/caption]
APThe new suit will be worn by Nasa astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen[/caption]
It will be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
The latest mission – scheduled for 2025 and dubbed Artemis III – will see the first woman land on the moon, Christina Koch.
An early version of a new spacesuit was revealed in March, which officials said had been designed to fit both men and women.
Prada and Axiom were awarded a contract by Nasa to help modernise and make the suits more comfortable.
Axoim said fashion designers would work alongside its team to develop “solutions for materials and design features to protect against the unique challenge of space and the lunar environment”.
A spokesman for Axoim said: “The AxEMU spacesuit will provide astronauts with advanced capabilities for space exploration, while offering NASA commercially developed human systems needed to access, live and work on and around the moon.
“Evolving NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit design, the Axiom Space spacesuits are created to provide increased flexibility, greater protection to withstand the harsh environment, and specialised tools for exploration and scientific opportunities.
“Using innovative technologies and design, these spacesuits will enable greater exploration of the lunar surface than ever before.
“The development of these next-generation spacesuits is a significant milestone in furthering space exploration, and enabling a deeper understanding of the Moon, the solar system, and beyond.”
The suits will be worn by Nasa’s Artemis III crew, who were revealed earlier this year as Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, commander Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch.
Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group Marketing Director, said: “We are honoured to be a part of this historic mission with Axiom Space.
“Our decades of experimentation, cutting-edge technology and design know-how – which started back in the ‘90s with Luna Rossa challenging for the America’s cup – will now be applied to the design of a spacesuit for the Artemis era. I
“It is a true celebration of the power of human creativity and innovation to advance civilization.”
Cover ImagesThe current white cover layer of the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit prototype[/caption]