NASA's Artemis astronauts will wear Prada-designed cooling garment for lunar missions
Axiom Space and Prada unveiled a Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) on Sunday, designed to be worn beneath the AxEMU spacesuit during NASA's Artemis lunar missions. The garment circulates chilled water around astronauts' bodies, delivers oxygen, and removes carbon dioxide, and features antimicrobial, antifungal materials for repeated use on extended eight-hour moonwalks. The announcement highlights both the growing role of private-sector and luxury-brand partnerships in space exploration and ongoing concerns about whether the Artemis program will meet its 2028 Moon landing target.
Axiom Space and Italian fashion house Prada unveiled the Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) at a New York City press event on Sunday, expanding their existing collaboration on the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit. The LCVG is a full-body inner layer threaded with tubing that circulates cold water to regulate astronaut body temperature and includes an oxygen delivery system to flush exhaled carbon dioxide away from the face. Notably, the garment incorporates a fully redundant cooling circuit and is made from specialized, antimicrobial and antifungal fibers designed to withstand repeated use across long-duration missions. Prada's contributions included expertise in engineered knitting, advanced 3D modeling, and innovative materials design, while Axiom Space provided the technical spaceflight requirements. The AxEMU represents the first major upgrade to NASA spacesuits in over 20 years, replacing designs rooted in the Apollo era. However, a NASA Inspector General report from April warned that Axiom's original 2025 testing timeline was 'ultimately unachievable' and that flight-ready suits might not be demonstrated until 2031, though Axiom says it has accelerated its schedule and plans to complete a Critical Design Review this year. The Artemis IV mission, currently targeting a 2028 lunar south pole landing, has already slipped once and faces additional uncertainty from setbacks with Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket and SpaceX's Starship.
Limitations & open questions
The specific materials used in the LCVG were not disclosed by any source. Additionally, no source clarified whether the LCVG has yet undergone full qualification testing or received NASA certification.
How coverage differed
The Register adopted a lighthearted, skeptical tone—emphasizing the fashion-meets-function novelty and dwelling on broader Artemis program risks—while Scientific American provided a more straightforward, detail-oriented science news framing focused on the garment's technical features and the partnership's significance.
What different sources said
- Scientific AmericanCenter
NASA’s astronauts will wear a Prada-designed onesie to keep cool on the moon
- The RegisterCenter
NASA's Secret: Moon astronauts will be rocking Prada underwear
Artemis Astronauts to Wear Prada Spacesuits
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