The big space news this past week was that Amazon took its first celestial step in building out its version of a space satellite constellation to provide internet across the globe, much like SpaceX is doing 🌐.
Amazon launched a couple of prototype satellites into orbit on board a United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket from the Space Coast - not on SpaceX rocket, unsurprisingly (I’m guessing Mr. Musk uttered something to the effect of “heck no” when the topic came up of SpaceX potentially assisting rival Mr. Bezos’ Amazon with the shared goal of worldwide internet dominance).
That was big... but there was something even bigger — the announcement that an Italian fashion brand was selected to help design NASA’s next generation moon-landing spacesuits!
Prada. Yes, Prada.
Why?
For its “technical expertise with raw materials, manufacturing techniques, and innovative design concepts” of course!!!
I had no idea Prada was known for its technical expertise!!! Did you? 😉 Apparently, Axiom Space did.
Axiom is one of two companies hired by NASA to design and build new spacesuits for the crew of the third Artemis Moon Mission, the one that will land astronauts on the surface of the moon as soon as 2025 (but likely not until 2026 or later). Axiom has already received $228 million from NASA to begin the design (we got to see the new suits in April in Houston).
Axiom’s press release announcing the Prada partnership raves about how Prada’s expertise “will bring advanced technologies instrumental in ensuring not only the comfort of astronauts on the lunar surface, but also the much-needed human factors considerations absent from legacy spacesuits.”
True, spacesuits must be designed with intense and even ridiculous technical specifications (withstand 400-degree temperature swings, provide cooling, supply oxygen, remove carbon dioxide, offer an outer layer that guards against rips or tears while the inner layer is soft and comfortable, and deliver all of this in a package that allows complete mobility to where an astronaut can move freely in space) - all to preserve human life. This is why NASA is projecting the next-gen spacesuits will cost us $3.5 BILLION.
So what will Prada actually do with Axiom?
“Prada’s engineers will work alongside the Axiom Space systems team throughout the design process, developing solutions for materials and design features to protect against the unique challenge of space and the lunar environment.”
Now, maybe it’s just me... but aren’t there lots and lots of other clothing manufacturers that would be better suited for this task?? North Face comes to mind for its outfitting of climbers scaling the highest peaks on Earth and keeping them alive in subzero temperatures while weathering dayslong blizzards.
Axiom’s press release makes no mention of the obvious - that Prada is chic, glamorous and very, very expensive.
Come on.
Sure, attaching the name Prada to a spacesuit is ritzy and kinda cool, especially if you’re the astronaut. But not if you’re paying for it - and we all are paying for it. It makes me wonder how many taxpayer dollars will be added to the cost of an already very expensive spacesuit.
What’s next - Dolce & Gabbana helmet sun visor? Maybe Gucci can share its technical expertise to design the life support box on the back of the spacesuit?
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👋 Here’s a little bit about me.
I’ve covered space for News 6 beginning in the days after Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry in 2003.
Since then, I’ve been at Kennedy Space Center reporting on nearly every space shuttle launch and the retirement of the shuttle program with Atlantis’ final flight in 2011.
I’ve climbed aboard Shuttle Atlantis’ flight deck and flown twice with the Air Force Thunderbirds in an F-16.
I’ve also reported on the rebirth of KSC and the Space Coast, covering the first SpaceX cargo missions to the International Space Station, leading up to the first crewed launch to the ISS in nearly a decade when the newest American-made rocket with American astronauts blasted off from American soil.
And I continue to track NASA’s SLS as the Artemis I Moon Rocket is readied for rollout and first flight.
I was at KSC when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos first announced his plans to bring his Blue Origin space tourism company to the Space Coast and reported from Long Beach, Calif., on up-and-coming aerospace tech, including Virgin Orbit.
I’ve interviewed Elon Musk one-on-one, and I very much look forward to speaking with you every week.