Southern and Moiseev have turned to Kickstarter to raise funds
Although the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was unmanned during its recent first flight to the International Space Station, the success of that mission nonetheless marked a huge step toward future crewed commercial space flights. SpaceX, of course, isn’t the only player in this newly-forming industry – companies such as Virgin Galactic, Boeing, and Blue Origin are also hoping to take paying customers on rocket rides. However, while a lot of attention has been paid to the spacecraft themselves, one has to wonder what those private-sector astronauts will be wearing. Expensive NASA space suits, perhaps? Not if Ted Southern and Nikolay Moiseev have anything to say about it.
Southern and Moiseev are the brains behind Final Frontier Design, a Brooklyn-based company that is designing a safe, functional and affordable pressurized space suit. Unlike some of NASA’s suits, which are designed with extra-vehicular activities such as space walks in mind, their suit is intended only for Intra Vehicular Activity. This means that it would be worn within the spacecraft during launch and reentry, as a safety backup in case of loss of cabin pressure.
Moiseev has worked as a space suit engineer for over 20 years, developing suits for groups such as NASA, the European Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency. Southern’s background lies in the area of special effects and costumes for theater, movies and television. Together, they designed a glove for use in outer space, which placed second in the 2009 NASA Astronaut Glove Challenge. They went on to work as technical residents at New York’s Eyebeam art and technology center, and were awarded a NASA contract last year, to continue development of their pressurized glove.
via Gizmag – Ben Coxworth
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