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With new direction to return to the Moon, NASA is developing highly efficient and lightweight extravehicular activity (EVA) equipment for working on the rugged lunar terrain. This paper presents results and evaluations of lunar thermal environments and design challenges for the EVA system. The evaluations include a review of basic lunar environment data, a review of metabolic rate predictions, analyses and reviews of spacesuit heat leak effects in past designs, and methods to improve the performance of spacesuit-mounted radiators in a hot lunar environment. In addition to reviewing existing lunar thermal environment data, a simplified thermal model is presented that can simulate the lunar surface temperature variation as a function of latitude and time on the lunar surface. The assumed physical and optical properties of the lunar soil as well as the solar heating on the Earth's Moon are also presented.

Future spacesuits will require thermal insulation protection in low-earth orbit (LEO), in the near-earth neighborhood and in planetary environments. In order to satisfy all future exploration needs and lower production and maintenance costs, a common thermal insulation is desirable that will perform well in all these environments. A highly promising material is a fiber-reinforced aerogel composite insulation currently being developed at the Johnson Space Center. This paper presents an overview of aerogels and their manufacture, a summary of the development of a flexible fiber-based aerogel for NASA by Aspen Aerogels, Inc., and performance data of aerogels relative to flexible commercial insulation. Finally, future plans are presented of how an aerogel-based insulation may be integrated into a spacesuit for ground testing as well as for a flight configuration.