Abstract#

This is a high-level description of the idea. Please use ELI5 (explain like I'm five years old) wording and summarize things for anyone to understand what you want to achieve.

We are prepping our NASA award winning pressure suit for a flight to space. Before doing so we must test it in "space like" conditions via NASA standards.

Problem#

Describe the problem your proposal solves.

Spacesuits are a necessary technology for human space exploration of our solar system, but based on historic relationship trends with NASA and the small number of suit contract manufactures we see the system breaking down before our very eyes. Companies like Collins Aerospace, now RTX, have even decided to drop out of its NASA suit contract for numerous reasons, potentially leaving NASA high and dry with sunk costs and no deliverables.

These contractual relationships that have been the historic foundation to US space exploration lead to exorbitant costs and lack of innovation. I believe it is among these reasons that we continue to see cost prohibitive scaling of market worthy space suits, and an inability to produce appropriate mobility.

Mobility is key to Lunar surface exploration. Engineered surface suits must balance factors like weight/mass, volume, cost, internal pressure, fire risk and flexibility. When you tip the scales in favor of one metric, you lower the favorability of another. It is a delicate balance any suit manufacturer must grapple with.

It is clear that current economic models have put us in a predicament. Suits are outdated, too expensive to produce, and lack appropriate fit and mobility to support astronaut safety. New suit developments are REQUIRED for successful human exploration of our Moon, Mars and beyond.

We have built newer, lighter, more cost effective and more flexible suits, but they must be demonstrated to NASA TRL 8 before spaceflight.

In new suit innovation we run into numerous problems including: NASA is notorious for the documented phenomenon known as "not-invented-here syndrome". The organization has numerous culture issues that it has been working to overcome in the past decades and has even developed a culture handbook based off of external audits. Not-invented-here syndrome leads NASA to numerous detrimental outcomes when designing for space including overspending and choosing inferior technologies or solutions. Its resistance to open innovation must be dismantled.

However, given the realities of these cultural challenges, companies must persist. The best way to do so is to bring any proposed technology (like these spacesuits) up to Technical Readiness Level 9 as soon as feasibly possible. But before spaceflight we have to chamber test to TRL 8.

Additional notes: Space X is vertically integrated and does not sell suits in the commercial market, also there are ITAR and EAR requirement issues that disallow suits to be globally commercialized.

Solution#

Describe the "meat & potatoes" of the proposal. Go into necessary detail about the work that needs to be done, alternative solutions considered, open questions, and future directions. Keep it concise.

We propose to take our current full pressure suit garment with a life support system and fly it to space/near space environment via vacuum chamber, 65,000ft or higher.

This is a mission demonstration of suit capabilities during a flight where we will be able to collect human factors assessment data of a low cost, highly flexible pressure suit garment. This chamber flight will bring the suit technology to TRL 8, reaching the seemingly unobtainable NASA standard and building trust in both the government and commercial markets. If successful, this chamber flight will enable suit technology that outperforms NASA's current state of the art, at 100x to 1000x lower price point.

Benefits#

Point out the core benefits of the proposal implementation and how it will affect MoonDAO. If the proposal can create revenue please create justification for how much revenue it could generate.

Benefits support the Dao's vision of space habitation as new commercial spacesuits are needed for such endeavours.

Risks#

Highlight any risks from implementing the proposal, how could this go wrong? How are you addressing those risks?

Risks include but are not limited to test subject decompression sickness, hypoxia, among others. These risks are mitigated via professional medical involvement, NASA medical screenings, etc. Risks are further managed through university affiliated IRB (Institutional Review Board), and industry standard human research qualifications.

See previously outlined risks and solutions in this document: https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/675685

See chamber operations document:

https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/679143

Objectives#

You can write as many OKRs as you think are needed. One focused goal is preferred instead of many. OKRs should use SMART principles (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound).

Objective #1: Successfully demonstrate full pressure suit operation in a space like environment.

Key Results for Objective #1:

• Suit demonstrated pressures of 3.5 psi to 8 psi
• Non human in the loop suit chamber flight to 65,000ft or higher
• Human in the loop suit chamber flight to 65,000ft or higher
• Collection of human factors data

Member(s) responsible for OKR and their role:

• Is there a specific member or set of members that are responsible for this particular objective? All are responsible.

Team (Table A)#

Role 2: Space Suit Engineer, Peter Homer

Role 3: Chamber Operator, Jacob Dawes

Role 4: Aerospace Physiologist, Brian Musselman

Role 5: Flight Doctor, Keith Ruskin | | Multisig signers | Five signers are required with their ETH addresses listed.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. | | | |

Team Bios

Please include a quick paragraph bio for each member of the team and multisig. If someone is on both the team and multisig then just reference the team bio.

Trent Tresch

Trent Tresch works in bridging the gap between traditional aerospace and new-space innovation. He launched his work at Biosphere 2, serving as a volunteer Co-Director for the Space Analog for the Moon and Mars habitat. He now imparts his expertise leading Center for Human Space Exploration initiatives in teaching spacesuit operations and spacecraft egress, while actively designing, researching, and testing space exploration technologies.

Piloting both hot air and hydrogen gas balloon systems, Trent has managed crewed and uncrewed high-altitude projects. He has a keen eye set on exploration of near-space environments such as the stratosphere and mesosphere. His further experience ranges from polar to deep ocean submarine exploration, to micro gravity flight, simulations, centrifuge and hypobarics. Working with the UA School of Medicine, APEX aerospace fellowship (APEX), he is currently engineering a two-person pressurized space capsule for rescue simulations and flight. Among many things, Trent additionally has contributed to international diplomatic efforts on the commercialization and economics of outer space, collaborating with organizations such as the Secure World Foundation and the Paris Peace Forum.

Peter Homer

He is the developer of an innovative new space suit pressure glove design that is strong, easy on the hands, and gives the operator a higher degree of dexterity while pressurized. Peter designed and then manufactured the best performing glove within competition parameters, winning NASA's Astronaut Glove Centennial Challenge in 2007. Continued advancements in flexibility of the pressure gloves and protective outer glove (TMG) led to again winning the second NASA Centennial Challenge held in 2009. These gloves incorporated many second generation innovations that increased hand dexterity while decreasing glove stiffness (bending effort) by a factor of two over prior designs–the winning gloves were more than twice as flexible as the NASA Phase VI glove in finger and wrist bending torque tests.

From 2014 through 2019 Peter worked with SpaceX to develop the pressure garment and pressure controls for the Crew Dragon space suit, as part of the NASA Commercial Crew program. Here he developed test plans in accordance with NASA safety standards, participated in Test Readiness Reviews, and conducted unmanned and human-in-the-loop testing of space suits and pressure suit components in the lab and inside altitude chambers. For altitude chamber testing with human-in-the-loop, additional planning and precautions are taken to ensure the utmost safety of the test subjects and supporting crew in the case of loss of suit pressure, medical event or fire.

Homer has also participated as a test subject for unpressurized and pressurized suit testing, and flown zero-gravity parabolic flight profiles on NASA's C-9 aircraft to test space suit capabilities in simulated microgravity.

He has extended his glove patterning methodology to entire suits, generating a fully customized, bespoke space suit from crew member's body measurements. These suits were certified to NASA standards and are currently flying astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Peter's career in aerospace spans over three decades, most recently developing commercial communications satellites for Lockheed-Martin Space Systems (formerly GE Astro Space) where he led configuration and design of the A2100 spacecraft bus structure which exceeded goals of 50% weight reduction, 50% cost reduction, and 50% cycle time reduction. The A2100 platform now accounts for 38+ satellites and hundreds of years of successful on-orbit operations.

Peter also worked at Grumman Aerospace in their Space Systems Division and Product Development Center (aka "skunk" works), collaborating on satellite thermal control subsystems, launch configurations, payload integration, and structural subsystems for commercial and military satellites. He has twelve issued patents related to flexible joints, space structures, thermal control and deployables. Peter has extensive experience in aerospace industry best practices and safety including developing manufacturing work instructions, test procedures and specification compliance. His experience includes Systems Engineering and Engineering Management for trail blazing software companies SDRC, Netscape, AOL and Sun Microsystems, and organizational leadership in the nonprofit world. Peter has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an M.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering-Advanced Composite Structures from Stanford University, and feels there is always more to learn.

Brian Musselman

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel with over 30 years of leadership in aerospace safety, physiology, and human factors. He has guided multidisciplinary teams across military, government, and commercial sectors, specializing in the development and integration of flight-critical systems that prioritize human safety and operational effectiveness.

A pivotal moment in his career was commanding the 9th Physiological Support Squadron at Beale AFB, where he directed global U-2S high-altitude life support operations and maintenance across four geographically separated units. Under his leadership, the squadron provided physiological training, resolved critical life support anomalies, and supported strategic reconnaissance missions. His deep experience in aerospace physiology, life support systems, and accident investigation informed subsequent roles as Vice Wing Commander of the Air Force's largest medical wing and Deputy Chief of Human Factors at the Air Force Safety Center.

Dr. Musselman currently serves as the Manager of a Human Systems Engineering Department for spaceflight hardware and a graduate-level, adjunct faculty member. He holds a Ph.D. in Aviation Safety and Human Factors and is a Certified Aerospace Physiologist and Certified Safety Professional. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Aerospace Medical Association, and Aerospace Human Factors Association.

Keith Ruskin

As a physician scientist, Neurosurgery Anesthesiologist Keith Ruskin, MD, FAsMA, FRAeS, FAsHFA, has built his career around informing clinical practice via translational findings of human performance studies in aerospace medicine. His career-long primary focus has centered around applying rigorous human factors principles to developing high-risk, high-reliability systems. Some highlights from Dr. Ruskin's career portfolio include: 1) Developing national guidelines to screen morbidly obese pilots for obstructive sleep apnea and managing in-flight cardiac arrest (a collaborative Federal Aviation Administration-sponsored, public safety initiative); 2) Developing a fatigue risk management program with NASA scientists for residents in training, drawing from astronaut experiences with induced torpor for long-duration spaceflight; and 3) Helped to develop a new arrival procedure for the National Airspace System (an FAA-funded study of air traffic control alarms, alerts, and warnings).

Timeline (Table B)#

Deadline for the project: End of Q4, 2026

Budget (Table C)#

These are fixed costs to make your project happen. This might also include bounties that you'll make inside of the DAO (it's recommended to have some amount allocated for bounties or competitions), or specific work that must be contracted out to complete the project. Please provide links to quotes where possible. The total may be expressed in any token, however funding amount will be sent in ETH or MOONEY based on current prices at the time of the transaction being created. Proposal budgets must be less than or equal to 1/5 of the total quarterly budget.