Sec. 205. Advanced spacesuit capabilities
475 words·~2 min read·
/bill/119/s/933/is/section-205·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: Space suits and associated extravehicular activity
(EVA)technologies are critical exploration technologies that are necessary for future human deep space exploration efforts, including crewed missions to the Moon. The NASA civil service workforce at the Johnson Space Center provides unique capabilities to design, integrate, and validate Space Suits and associated EVA technologies. Maintaining a strong NASA core competency in the design, development, manufacture, and operation of space suits and related technologies allows NASA to be an informed purchaser of competitively awarded commercial space suits and subcomponents. According to a 2018 NASA Office of Inspector General
(OIG)report, current EVAs space suits, the Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), were developed in the late 1970s, are reaching the end of their useful life, have experienced multiple maintenance issues that threaten astronaut lives, and no longer accommodate the varying sizes of a diverse astronaut corps. The same NASA OIG report found that manufacturers of several critical suit components, including the very fibers of the suits, have now gone out of business , which further reinforces the importance of NASA’s role in maintaining a space suit core competency and limiting the risk posed by outsourcing key national capabilities. The private sector currently is developing space suit capabilities. Testing space suits and related technologies on the International Space Station could reduce risk and improve safety of such suits and technologies. The Administrator shall obtain advanced spacesuit capabilities necessary to achieve the goals of NASA’s human spaceflight exploration programs. Any commercial provider from which the Administrator obtains advanced spaceflight capabilities shall be a United States commercial provider. In carrying out subsection (b), NASA shall maintain the internal expertise necessary to develop space suits for both extravehicular activity and surface operations, including through partnerships with the private sector. The Johnson Space Center shall continue to manage NASA’s spacesuit and extravehicular activity programs. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall provide the appropriate committees of Congress with a briefing on NASA's plans for— in-space testing of advanced spacesuit capabilities, including— space suit tests that shall be conducted in microgravity in low-Earth orbit; and space suit tests that shall be conducted on the International Space Station before decommissioning of the International Space Station; transitioning from existing spacesuits in use on the International Space Station to use of advanced spacesuit capabilities; future use of advanced spacesuit capabilities by government astronauts with any nongovernmental platform in low-Earth orbit that is certified for use by the Administration for government astronauts; and disposition of retired spacesuits used on the Space Shuttle or the International Space Station. The briefing required by paragraph
(1)shall include— a detailed justification of compliance with section 30301 of title 51, United States Code; and a detailed certification and justification of compliance with section 50503 of title 51, United States Code.