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Robert Walker

It’s best to think of spacesuits as more like mini spaceships than the suits of science fiction stories and movies, which seem more like aqualungs. They have to be pressurized to hold in atmosphere at a pressure of tons per square meter, which makes them far more complex than any aqualung, also to withstand micrometeorites, also to keep the astronaut cool because the vacuum of space is a good insulator.

A typical NASA spacesuit would probably cost about $2 million dollars to build from scratch - that’s as a recurring item, not including the initial design costs. It requires about 5,000 hours of work and would take someone who had all the necessary skills about two and a half years to build, given supply of all the parts and materials needed. I get those details from Space suit evolution (NASA).

It’s possible this could change with future designs. But that’s the current situation, and for the foreseeable near future.

About the Author

Robert Walker

Robert Walker

Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.
Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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Top Writer2017, 2016, and 2015
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