Final Frontier Design

The MCP glove design includes restraint lines of Spectra running from the fingertips, down each finger, along the palm, and to the wrist to control human and pressure loads.  Adjustable pressure on the skin is realized through inflatable pockets running from the fingertips to the wrist and donning and doffing is allowed through two diagonal zippers along the wrist, reinforced with lacing.  Fingertips are stiff and cast on printed molds, while the grey stretch base is laser cut with ease to allow for the necessary range of motion along the fingers.   The base is designed to interface with a wrist dam to seal pressure into the suit, and NASA's current xEMU wrist bearing bolt hole pattern.

Mechanical Counter Pressure (MCP) is an advanced space suit configuration in which the garment provides compression of the skin at very high pressures to counteract the vacuum of space. The result is a highly conformal, flexible, and inherently safe spacesuit that will revolutionize human space exploration.  Current space suits are bulky and heavy; NASA's Artemis suit weighs more than 300 pounds on Earth. MCP space suits have the potential to be less than 50 pounds and offer a much greater range of motion. MCP as a concept has existed in sci-fi writings for decades (Red Mars / Green Mars / Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, 'The Martian'), and preliminary testing at NASA in the early 1970's validated the concept. Today MCP remains a technical challenge with great potential.

Final Frontier Design (FFD) is a small business working from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City, making spacesuits for NASA and the commercial space industry.  Founded in 2010 after a successful entry into NASA's Astronaut Glove competition, FFD is a partnership between a Russian aerospace engineer and an American craftsman and artist.  FFD is currently solving pressure garment problems for NASA's Artemis mission to the moon and developing launch and re-entry suits for high altitude and space flight.