14 DAY TRIAL // The American space agency is currently in the process of evaluating the performances of its Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES). The new design is meant to make it easier for astronauts to conduct extra-vehicular activities (EVA), or spacewalks.
In this image, astronaut Rex Walheim is seen dangling from the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS), a device located at the NASA Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas. The instrument is meant to simulate the microgravity environment that astronauts conduct EVA in.
An important thing to know about ACES is that it is fully integrated with the life support systems aboard the NASA Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). The spacecraft will carry out its first test flight to Earth’s orbit as early as late 2013 or early 2014.
In the near future, the ACES will play an important role in exploring near-Earth objects (NEO) – by 2025 – and the Red Planet (by the early 2030s), as part of the official space policy enacted in the Unted States in 2010.