At the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy, Exxon Aerospace and Prada today revealed for the first time the flight design of the Exxon Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit, which will be used on NASA’s Artemis III mission.
Space travel doesn't seem glamorous, like having to pee your pants and eat roast beef reconstituted with ground meat for dinner. But future space flights may get a little more luxurious when the next astronaut to land on the moon dons a new spacesuit designed by Axiom Space in partnership with Prada. The Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU for short) can withstand the harsh conditions of the lunar south pole, while also providing a sense of sophistication that space suits lack.
Prada and Axiom collaborated to develop the suit's outer layers, with the fashion house providing expertise in "performance materials, functionality and sewing techniques". In addition to protecting the wearer from the cold vacuum of space, the suit is also designed to "visually inspire future space exploration."
Prada's space suit includes a helmet and visor, equipped with lights, HD cameras and 4G/LTE communication capabilities. As you'd expect from couture clothing, the gloves are custom-made and the boots are designed for the lunar terrain and can adapt to a variety of occupants through "anthropomorphic sizing," according to the press release.
Sadly, it will be a while before we see it on the "red carpet" at the space center. NASA astronauts will wear AxEMU on the Artemis III lunar landing mission "no earlier than" September 2026.