Honeywell to Begin Work on Next Generation Spacesuit for Moon Walks

Honeywell's Glendale manufacturing plant is about to begin work on parts for a spacesuit planned to be used in future explorations on the moon. NASA announced in June it had awarded a contract to a Houston company, Oceaneering International, to design and build two types of spacesuits. One will be made for...

By Ray Stern

December 19, 2008

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Honeywell's Glendale manufacturing plant is about to begin work on parts for a spacesuit planned to be used in future explorations on the moon.

NASA announced in June it had awarded a contract to a Houston company, Oceaneering International, to design and build two types of spacesuits. One will be made for spacewalks and for space station work, while the other (prototype pictured at left) will be used on the moon. Honeywell broke some of the details of its role in the project in a news release yesterday.

Honeywell spokeswoman Cathy Gedvilas tells New Times the company's local workers will help build avionics systems for the moon suit.

Avionics is a fancy term for the technology that turns the suit into more of a type of vehicle than clothing. Honeywell will work on a miniature heads-up display so the astronaut inside will know important things like how much air for breathing the moon suit can provide.

It's nifty to imagine the pride some Valley families will feel when the United States returns to the moon in 2020, knowing their handiwork will be helping mankind take the next great leap. -- Ray Stern

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.