High Pressure EVA Glove (HPEG), Phase I

Final Frontier Design's (FFD) High Pressure EVA Glove (HPEG) is a game changing technology enabling future exploration class space missions. The high operating pressure allows astronauts to conduct EVAs without a pre breathe penalty, greatly increasing efficiency. The HPEG increases astronaut comfort and reduces fatigue by allowing for a large Range of Motion with low joint torque throughout. In its current configuration, the glove has shown no signs of hand or fingernail trauma, representing a lower injury risk than current technology. Further, mass reductions from new materials and processes ensure that the HPEG will weigh significantly less than current technology.

Sizing capabilities of the HPEG are also a technical improvement over current methods. FFD can establish all tooling, flat patterns, and restraint components from laser hand scans, deriving complex anthropomorphic geometries to exactly match the contours of the hand at the palm and fingertips, while customized flat pattern sizing occurs parametrically according to pre-defined hand anchor/reference points.

Phase I of the HPEG will include 2 build rounds, with preliminary testing to take place unmanned during the contract, and a deliverable to include a single pressure garment and outer garment of the glove.