Artemis II spacesuits made in Massachusetts can protect astronauts even in "worst case" scenario
When the four Artemis II astronauts launch into space for their mission to the far side of the moon, they'll be wearing spacesuits that are designed to protect them even in a "worst case" scenario, the Massachusetts company that makes them says.
The orange "Orion Crew Survival System" suits are worn during launch, high-risk parts of the mission near the moon and re-entry to Earth. Shane Jacobs, the chief technologist at the David Clark Company in Worcester, said the suits are custom-made for each astronaut.
"We've been developing this suit for many years, working hand-in-hand with our NASA partners," Jacobs told CBS News Boston.
Contingency scenarios
Jacobs said the spacesuits will protect the astronauts in the unlikely event that the crew capsule loses cabin pressure on the way to the moon.
"If that happens, you can't just turn around and come back home," he said. "You've got to actually continue all the way to the moon, loop around the moon just like Apollo 13 did, and come back."
Jacobs said the suit is able to act as a "personal human-shaped spacecraft" for each astronaut - providing oxygen, removing carbon dioxide and keeping them at the right temperature. The suits can protect the crew from smoke or fire in the cabin, and even have a waste management system.
"They could actually live inside this suit for six days," Jacobs said.
He described the suits a "backup life support system" that hopefully won't need to be put to use, much like a car seatbelt.
"If the mission goes well, as the end of the day, you didn't need the seatbelt. If you get to where you want and look back you think, 'oh I didn't need to be wearing it,'" Jacobs said.
"But aren't you glad you're wearing it every single time in the event something were to go wrong?"
David Clark Company
The David Clark Company has been developing spacesuits since the early 1940s when David Clark himself helped design the first "anti-G" suit. They also designed suits for NASA's Project Gemini and gear for the Apollo lunar missions.
"It's amazing. it's an extreme honor," Jacobs said. "It's also definitely something that weighs on all of us, is thinking about these crew members that we've gotten to know."
He said people are often surprised to find out that designing this cutting-edge technology is done "in an old mill building" in central Massachusetts.
"We have an incredible team of talented technicians and seamstresses and pattern designers, right there in Worcester," he said.
