Development of an Advanced Planetary Mobility Spacesuit using Advanced Additive Manufacturing Design and Techniques

This proposal is responding to NASA EPSCoR announcement number NNH20ZHA005C, specifically Appendix G2.2: Commercial Space Capabilities, Research Request Number: CSCO-2020-03, Research Title: Improvement of Space Suit State of Art. Through our development programs of the NDX-1 and NDX-2 planetary suits, the University of North Dakota team has accrued extensive experience at fabricating complete Extravehicular Activity (EVA) spacesuit prototypes. We propose to meet the above research need through the design, development, and manufacturing of a spacesuit prototype using additive manufacturing (AM). Manufacture of this EVA suit will be equally possible in 1 g on Earth, in µ-g in space, and in fractional-g on the planetary surfaces of the Moon and Mars. This expertise assures confidence that the following key concerns can be satisfied:

1. That the soft goods and woven materials will exhibit consistent characteristics and will be strong, durable, and reliable for operations in hostile environments 2. That the suits will provide substantial surface mobility to achieve mission success 3. That the ergonomics will ensure safety and comfort, including body contact with the suit and its extremities 4. That the suits will be usable, permitting easy don and doff 5. That the suits will substantially reduce dust contamination 6. That astronaut crews will have the ability to fabricate any suit part in space, and 7. That the suits will be consistently producible through standardized digital manufacturing, materials, and feed stock.

Historically, spacesuit fabrication methodologies have relied extensively on traditional methods of fabric garment assembly and connection through sewing. These manufacturing methods require thousands of hours of artisan-like abilities that include patterning, cutting, sewing, gluing, applying rubber components, etc. Inspection of the work becomes a significant cost because of the normal individual variations. One of the ongoing challenges in spacesuit engineering is mating hard parts to soft parts. Additive manufacturing can solve a large part of this fabrication challenge by creating parts having both hard, rigid sections and soft, flexible sections while using the same materials. We expect the utilization of AM techniques to enable manufacturing and repairing pressure garments in-situ, thereby allowing for a sustainable presence on the Moon and Mars. Astronauts at a permanent base on the Moon or Mars will be able to fabricate nearly any EVA spacesuit part they need without waiting for delivery of replacement components from the Earth. The University of North Dakota Human Spaceflight Laboratory will develop AM techniques to produce a fully operational, pressurizable spacesuit. This capability will revolutionize the paradigm of the next generation spacesuit manufacturing. The funding for this proposed research will allow us realistically to advance from the current Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 3-4 to TRL 6 over the three-year period of performance.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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