CNBC by Michael Sheetz 8/10/2021
Elon Musk offers for SpaceX to make NASA spacesuits, after watchdog says program to cost $1 billion
Key Points
• Elon Musk offered SpaceX’s services to help NASA make its next-generation spacesuits.
• His proposal came in response to a report by NASA’s inspector general on the work being done to develop a new line of Extravehicular Mobility Units, which are informally called spacesuits.
• NASA has spent more than $420 million on spacesuit development since 2007 but, even with another $625 million in spending planned, the inspector general report found that the spacesuits for the agency’s lunar missions will “not be ready for flight until April 2025 at the earliest.”
Elon Musk offered SpaceX’s services to help NASA make its next-generation spacesuits, after a watchdog report on Tuesday said the agency’s current program is behind schedule and will cost more than $1 billion.
“SpaceX could do it if need be,” Musk wrote in a tweet.
Michael Sheetz
@thesheetztweetz·
NASA's Inspector General says delays in spacesuit development are another factor making a 2024 astronaut Moon landing impossible. With $420M spent and another $625M expected, suits won't be "ready for flight until April 2025 at the earliest." Report:
https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-21-025Elon Musk
SpaceX could do it if need be
Musk’s company has developed and made flight suits for astronauts who launch into orbit in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. The flight suits are primarily designed to protect the astronauts in case of a fire inside of the spacecraft, or if the cabin depressurizes. Building spacesuits would be a more complex and challenging endeavor, given the need to survive outside of a spacecraft in the harsh environment of space.
More:
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/10/elon-musk-spacex-could-make-new-astronaut-spacesuits-for-nasa.html
