Spacesuit Designer

My dad was an astronaut, and my mom was a food scientist at NASA, so I knew what it took to become a NASA engineer. I wanted a job that was a challenge and that excited me. I thought developing spacesuits sounded like fun!

My dad was an astronaut. My mom was a food scientist at NASA. So I knew what it took to become a NASA engineer. I wanted a job that was a challenge and excited me. I thought creating spacesuits sounded like fun!

You can think of a spacesuit as a human-shaped spaceship. It protects the astronauts the same way. The new suit that will be worn on the moon is made of 11 layers of material. These layers help seal the suit and keep it pressurized, or inflated like a balloon, so that astronauts can keep breathing. A loss of pressure will cause lungs to stop working.

The materials also protect astronauts from radiation, extreme cold, and small rocks flying through space. Chilled water runs through tubes in the suit’s innermost layer to cool the astronauts in the sun’s extreme heat. A backpack, called the Portable Life Support System, holds the oxygen that the astronauts need to breathe.

Think of a spacesuit as a human-shaped spaceship. It protects an astronaut the same way. The new suit that will be worn on the moon has 11 layers of material. These layers help seal the suit. That keeps it pressurized. That means it stays inflated like a balloon. Otherwise, astronauts wouldn’t be able to breathe. A loss of pressure will cause lungs to stop working.

The materials also protect astronauts from radiation. They block small rocks zipping through space. The rocks could create holes in the suit. Chilled water runs through tubes in the suit’s inner layer. The water cools the astronauts in the sun’s extreme heat. The suit also keeps them warm in extreme cold. A backpack holds the oxygen astronauts need to breathe. It’s called the Portable Life Support System.

The process can take up to 10 years. We start by making a list of criteria, or requirements. We wanted the new moon suit to be more flexible than previous spacesuits. We redesigned every joint so that astronauts can bend and flex more easily. The new suits also have interchangeable parts so they can better fit astronauts of different sizes. 

Once we have a design, the pieces of the suit are built and then assembled at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

The process can take up to 10 years. We start by making a list of criteria, or requirements. We wanted the new moon suit to be more flexible than older spacesuits. So we changed every joint. They allow astronauts to bend more easily. The new suit’s parts can also be swapped out. That way they can better fit astronauts of different sizes. 

The pieces of the suit are built once we have a design. This happens at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. It’s in Houston, Texas. Then the pieces are put together.

We test everything on Earth first. At NASA, we test the suits in special facilities that let us mimic the gravity, air pressure, and temperature of a harsh space environment. Testing the suits under these conditions helps astronauts know how they will perform in space. 

The process can take up to 10 years. We start by making a list of criteria, or requirements. We wanted the new moon suit to be more flexible than older spacesuits. So we changed every joint. They allow astronauts to bend more easily. The new suit’s parts can also be swapped out. That way they can better fit astronauts of different sizes. 

The pieces of the suit are built once we have a design. This happens at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. It’s in Houston, Texas. Then the pieces are put together.

I like solving problems. I also like trying out spacesuits so that I can think of new ways to improve them!

I like solving problems. I also like trying out spacesuits. Then I can think of new ways to improve them!