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For NASA's new moon-bound astronauts, it's time for some new suits

An artist’s illustration of two suited crew members working on the lunar surface. The one in the foreground lifts a rock to examine it while the other photographs the collection site in the background. Photo: NASA
An artist’s illustration of two suited crew members working on the lunar surface. The one in the foreground lifts a rock to examine it while the other photographs the collection site in the background. Photo: NASA

NASA needs new space suits. The agency wants to put people back on the moon in the 2020s, and to do it safely, it needs brand new spacesuits for use on the lunar surface. NASA is working with two private companies to design, develop and build the new suits -- at a price of up to $3.5 billion.

But making a new lunar spacesuit isn’t easy. We’ll talk with space policy analyst Laura Forczyk about the challenges ahead for new moon suits.

Then, spacesuits have been around since the first human space missions in the 1960s. We’ll speak with Smithsonian’s Cathleen Lewis about the history of the spacesuits.

Dressed for space. That’s ahead on Are We There Yet?.

Brendan covers space news for WMFE, everything from rocket launches to the latest scientific discoveries in our universe. He hosts WMFE's weekly radio show and podcast "Are We There Yet?" which explores human space exploration. Brendan is a native Floridian, born and raised in Broward County. He moved to Central Florida in 2005 to attend the University of Central Florida. He began working at WMFE as a college intern where he discovered his love for public radio.