Commercial EVA Space Suit System Development

Final Frontier Design (FFD) is in development of their EVA space suit system. The philosophy is to develop a simple, light weight, low cost, and limited use EVA system with a maximum use of 20 EVAs and no return-to-Earth life cycle. FFD’s EVA space suit has a rear entry hatch, with a soft upper torso and soft adjustable limb joints. A complete pressure garment and outer garment enclosure prototype has been patterned and fabricated, defining baseline sizing, interfaces with bearings, geometry of the torso and helmet, and materials configurations. Bearing analogs have been included in the enclosure for future integration. The ventilation system of the enclosure has been included, utilizing built in arm and leg tubing and a 3D printed helmet ventilation manifold, and a pressure relief valve. A unique liquid cooling garment (LCG) has been developed and fabricated for use with the suit, using fabric panels with specialized flat water channels that can increase surface area and efficiency of the heat exchange. The prototype LCG and enclosure is intended to be used as a test bed for system interfaces and for training development. Additionally, a breadboard, closed-loop personal life support system (PLSS) has been designed and fabricated utilizing commercial off the shelf (COTS) components wherever possible. The PLSS includes an oxygen rebreather loop that removes heat, humidity, and CO2 from the breathing gas, and a water cooling system for the LCG. The PLSS uses a unique 3D printed sublimator plate assembly to reject heat to the vacuum from both the breathing gas loop and the water loop. The PLSS has been tested using a human respiration analog. A test program utilizing a space station breadboard and EVA tools is in development. With the enclosure and the PLSS, FFD aims to create a commercially focused, complete EVA system.