Final Frontier Design

Paragon Space Development Corporation Agrees to Acquire Final Frontier Design – Parabolic Arc

Paragon Space Development Corporation Agrees to Acquire Final Frontier Design!

FFD is very excited to announce we will be moving to Houston, Texas this spring to join forces with the Paragon team.

Thank you for your support over the years!

Paragon Space Development Corporation Agrees to Acquire Final Frontier Design – Parabolic Arc Paragon Space Development Corporation Agrees to Acquire Final Frontier Design January 6, 2022January 6, 2022 Doug Messier News Leave a commentCredit: Paragon SDCTUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 6, 2022 (Paragon SDC PR) — Paragon Space Development Corporation (Paragon) is excited to announce today it has entere...

Final Frontier Design is hiring!

We are currently seeking an experienced aerospace engineer and senior level garment designer to join our team.

Please reach out to [email protected] with a resume if you are interested!

TFW the superstar Astronaut Mike “Mass” Massimino posts about his visit to FFD before we do

Thanks for the support and being a real New Yorker Mass!

FFD is proud to celebrate our 10 year founding anniversary this month! We were incorporated in June, 2010.

Over the last decade, we’ve gone from a part time hobby to a full fledged NASA contractor with multiple employees and tangible space flight ambitions.

Thank you for all your support through the years. We hope the next 10 years bring us to orbit and the Lunar Surface!

Final Frontier Design (FFD) is pleased to announce the award of multiple contracts for components of NASA’s next generation xEMU Lunar space suit. The xEMU Lunar space suit will be used in the Artemis mission, the first US planetary space mission since Apollo. The development awards include the Lunar xEMU space suit boot, hip, and waist joints, and will culminate with hardware deliveries to NASA in 2020.

Lower body motion for walking and thermal insulation in the extremely cold regions of the Lunar south pole will be critical performance elements in the Lunar xEMU space suit. The boots in particular will be subject to contact with extraordinarily cold, permanently shaded Lunar regolith in the south pole region. The boots are tasked with providing flexibility and ankle motion for walking, traction, insulation, and pressure containment. FFD is partnering with Vibram Corporation to develop a specialized boot outsole designed specifically for this cryogenic environment. This work is a direct outgrowth of our 2019 NASA SBIR award and delivery to Houston of a Lunar boot prototype.

In addition to Lunar boots, FFD is working awards for the hip and waist joint pressure garment softgoods. These are also critical mobility elements for planetary Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA).

FFD’s President, Ted Southern, noted “FFD is proud to be working with NASA to return U.S. boots to the moon. The challenge and ambition of the mission is inspiring.”

FFD is working to build a more diverse and inclusive society in space by decreasing the barrier to entry for crewed flight. We believe in a future in space were we are all one race, the human race.

One of the most inspiring parts of working in our industry is the history of international and intercultural cooperation seen in human space flight. Space brings us together.

NASA Johnson Space Center, has ordered 2 pair of our Anti-G pants, originally developed by FFD to be worn in dynamic flight inside our launch and re-entry space suit. Our Anti-Gravity pants compress the legs and torso allowing the body to be less affected by g-forces.
NASA is investigating their effectiveness as a post landing treatment for astronauts who have been subject to long durations in microgravity. After returning to Earth, these astronauts suffer from orthostatic intolerance, in which they are unable to deliver enough blood to their brain, especially when standing.

We officially completed our Phase I SBIR and delivered our Lunar Space Suit Boot to NASA last week.
Here you can see the boot being pressurized in order to test the fit of the MLI (Multi-Layer Insulation) onto the pressure garment. The boot can hold an ultimate pressure of 22 psi, with its nominal operating pressure being 8.3 psi. This is nearly 3 times higher pressure than the Apollo Suit!
The MLI is made up of many layers of Mylar and spacer mesh, that are nested in between the inner liner and outer layer of the EPG (Environmental Protective Garment). The MLI is one of the main components to protecting astronauts from harsh environment found on the moon, with temperatures that fluctuate from +250°F when in direct sunlight, to -350°F when in permanent shadow.

Final Frontier Design is on the search for a sewing intern in fashion design with a knowledge of garment making for Spring and Summer. Fashion interns will spend most of their time working directly with FFD’s pattern maker of 4 years Katie Coble.
Seen here fitting and testing the Outer Garment for our EVA legs!
Katie’s background is in fashion, art, and costume design and spent 5 semesters teaching undergrad students stitching techniques, patterning, draping, fit analysis, and design concepts. This is an opportunity to work in a small design studio where interns get one in one attention, and hands on experience with our full staff. We welcome interns to share ideas and are open to answering their questions about the way in which we work here at FFD.
If you are interested in coming on board and learning with our team, or know someone who is a good fit, send us a message via Instagram, Facebook, or email us at [email protected] @ Final Frontier Design

FFD is partnering with for our current SBIR with to create a Lunar Boot design.
Vibram specializes in shoes and outsoles for mountain climbing and industrial applications that need increased traction and durability for encountering harsh environments.
We are excited to partner with Vibram who we collaborated with on this design. This silicone is rated to (negative) -180 degrees F. It is a specialized custom blend for flexibility at very cold temperatures like those seen in shadows on the surface of the moon. The Durometer is 40 shore A which is very flexible!

Final Frontier Design was awarded an SBIR for Lunar Space Boots in August 2019. We are currently in Phase I of prototype development and testing.
These are boots Chief Engineer Nik Moiseev developed from 1997-2001. Nik has extensive experience in spacesuits, space gloves, and space suit boots prior to founding FFD with Ted Southern in 2010. These were developed as a planetary space suit program prototype.

2009/2019... It has been almost 10 years since this photo was taken of Final Frontier Co-Owners Ted Southern and Nik Moiseev with their “Prime” suit, their first IVA suit premiered in 2010.
Here they are now in 2019, about to turn over into a new decade, and moving forward with EVA development. Still pushing boundaries, still arguing through design decisions, and still hoping and planning innovative projects for the new frontier.
Happy New Year!

Thank you for covering testing done in our EVA suit with Project PoSSUM at the CSA.
Also a big thanks to citizen-scientists like for teaming up with us. We have had the pleasure of working with on many PoSSUM training activities and more than a dozen “PoSSum-nauts”. Here is an excerpt from Shawna’s interview...
"We really felt like we were working on an ISS panel and it seems like an easy task description,"... "it is incredibly hard, there wasn't a single candidate who went through and wasn't exhausted by the end of it … how do astronauts do this for 8 hours?"- Shawna Pandya
💫Link to full article in bio💫

Inside Final Frontier Design, NASA Space Suit Developer Workshop & Lab

Inside Final Frontier Design, NASA Space Suit Developer Workshop & Lab Get up close and personal with a private spacesuit maker and its cutting-edge technologies & materials being developed for commercial spaceflight. Join New York Adventure Club for an exclusive visit to Final Frontier Design, a private design studio designing flight-ready space suits for space access...

The girl who dreams to live on Mars

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/27/colonizing-mars-nasa-blueberry-alyssa-carson/4320100002/

The girl who dreams to live on Mars For Alyssa Carson, colonizing Mars is just the first step in saving the human race.

Alyssa Carson also known as was featured in after being ‘certified’ for space. She describes her experience at Advanced PoSSUM Academy in which she is the youngest graduate. We are happy to have had her in one of our suits during tests in Montreal with

“Project PoSSUM is a private citizen science research organization that studies the upper atmosphere.”...”We do suborbital spaceflight training in real Final Frontier Design spacesuits.” -Alyssa Carson, USA Today Nov 27, 2019

Alyssa is an 18 year old Astrobiology student and has already given three Ted Talks, has a pilot license and has done extensive training to prepare herself for her dream to be one of the first astronauts to Mars. 👩‍🚀

“PoSSUM Completes First Commercial Gravity-Offset EVA Space Suit Test with the Collaboration of the Canadian Space Agency”

Find our EVA Suit in PR Newswire!

This article walks you through the series of tests that were conducted at the Canadian Space Agency earlier this month using the gravity-offset system that created a partial to zero-gravity environment. FFD is thrilled to complete this round of testing making it a step closer to certification.

💫Find the link in our bio💫

PoSSUM Completes First Commercial Gravity-Offset EVA Space Suit Test with the Collaboration of the Canadian Space Agency

"Final Frontier Design is proud to complete our first round of high-fidelity EVA space suit testing. It was a privilege and honor to work with Project PoSSUM at the Canadian Space Agency, and thrilling to see the successful use of our EVA system in multiple relevant environments," - Ted Southern.

Read more about the gravity-offset tests completed in PR News wire!

PoSSUM Completes First Commercial Gravity-Offset EVA Space Suit Test with the Collaboration of the Canadian Space Agency /PRNewswire/ -- A team of sixteen Project PoSSUM citizen-scientists recently completed a series of gravity-offset tests and evaluations of an Extravehicular...

Are you interested in interning with us? Message us here or at www.finalfrontierdesign.com.
Below is some feed back from Alexandra, our current soft good intern, about her time at FFD.
Alexandra Papaioannou comes to us through an intern program DAAP at the University of Cincinnati. Alexandra has been a great asset and has assisted in the production of several commercial projects we have done at FFD as well as assisted on in house manufacturing of the LCG, and EVA outer-garment. Here she is stitching up some comm caps.
How did you find us? - Through a podcast called ‘I Need my Space’ where Ted discussed how to make space suits cheaper
Why did you work here over other fashion related companies? - In short, I’ve worked at 3 other fashion related companies, and found the work done day to day could get a bit repetitive... because the work here is different and technically challenging it feels more purposeful since there is so much new design development.
What have you learned? - Skills I have learned are fabric welding, working with leather, technical stitching techniques, and I’ve learned about pattern making through watching how shapes get translated.
Is it what you expected?- I expected to work more on a computer, and more running around. There was more actual sewing and hands on work than I expected. It has also been good to be at somewhere smaller where people hear you and listen to your opinion. @ Brooklyn Navy Yard

Kyle Foster - Testing a prototype EVA suit from Final Frontier Designs during Project PoSSUM EVA 104 class at CSA HQ.

FFD spent 2 years in development of our new Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) space suit prototype.
We recently returned from a week of testing our EVA suit with at Headquarters in Montreal.
Our suit is very adjustable- for this testing we fit between 5’2” - 6’ 1” in height! @ Montreal, Quebec

During this year’s time at NRC we successfully tested our life support system in Zero Gravity and high G environments.

Our FOP Suit went through a series of 18-21 parabolas per flight where the subjects conducting tests would fly to 20,000 feet and then drop to 10,000 experiencing 20-21 seconds of microgravity at up to 2G!
@ Ottawa, Ontario

FFD just finished up a full week of testing our space suits and advanced Life Support System in Ottawa with the team.

We collected a lot of data for analysis and are happy with the results. ✔️

Thank you to all that were involved! 🙏

➡️Flip through to see FFD engineer Nikolay Moissev on site with several participants.

Final Frontier Design completing in house check outs of our EVA space suit!

Over the course of several tests this September and October, FFD is validating operation of their updated EVA space suit. The suit includes an advanced liquid cooling garment, bearings along the right arm, functional ventilation ducts and pressure garment, removable gloves, and an integrated sensor system.

Our preparations are for our first all up testing outside of our lab. In coordination with . We will be hosting as many as 12 test subjects in Montreal later this month!

Stay tuned

Nik Moiseev, FFD Lead Designer made a presentation about space suit design at Campus Party conference in Milano, Italy. Meetings with friends.

FFD Lead Designer Nik Moiseev will participate in conference in Milan, Italy along with potential partners.
https://campuse.ro/events/campus-party-italia-2019/talk/cpit3-space-suits/

FFD president Ted Southern had some exciting meetings with the Canadian Space Agency last week, along with our partners Project Possum.
Big things coming!

Spacesuits: Apollo to Today

EVENT
Spacesuits: Apollo to Today
Panelists: Bill Ayrey, Nick Moiseev, Ryan Nagata, and Dava Newman

July 2, 2019 | 8:00pm

Spacesuits: Apollo to Today Visit us in Washington, DC and Chantilly, VA to explore hundreds of the world’s most significant objects in aviation and space history.

FFD's President Ted Southern will be speaking at the National Space Society's ISDC this Friday, June 7, at 11:30 am, just before Buzz Aldrin!

His topic? Lunar Space Suits.

Hope to see you there. (Arlington, VA)

https://isdc2019.nss.org/

We’re teaming up with for a giveaway to promote the new movie! Try our Space Suit Experience between now and June 11th and you’ll receive official sunglasses and advance screening passes for the film while supplies lasts. Men in Black: International is in theaters June 14th!

Use discount code "MIB" for 20% off the space suit experience.
http://www.finalfrontierdesign.com/shop/the-space-suit-experience