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According NASA officials the next generation spacesuits are going to be developed by a company called Oceaneering International Inc. It is interesting to note that Oceaneering is famous for creating products for oil and gas industry and providing services for deep water operations.

NASA beat out Exploration Systems and Technology, which is a company owned by ILC and Hamilton Sundstrand. The later is a subsidiary of United Technologies and it has been the main contractor for creating spacesuits for Houston-based company since 1960s.

"Our team is excited about this tremendous opportunity to assist NASA in pushing the boundaries of space exploration. We have a world-class team of companies and individuals who are all committed to NASA and the Vision for Space Exploration. We have been working together with NASA for some time and are fully prepared to meet all of the requirements for the program," said Mark Gittleman, who holds the position of vice president and general manager of Oceaneering Space Systems.

Currently the spacesuit that was dubbed by NASA EVA, which stands for Extra Vehicular Activity is being created for protecting astronauts during their missions to the international space station and afterwards to the surface of the moon. The space agency hopes its astronauts will return to the moon by 2020.

Oceaneering International Inc. has signed a $745 million contract that includes three parts. The contract includes the creation of 109 suits, 24 of which will be created exclusively for missions to the moon.

"We haven't developed an EVA suit in many years, since the late '70s," mentioned Doug Cooke, a deputy associate administrator for NASA.

The space agency looks forward for the first new suits to be made by Oceaneering International Inc. for the debut launch of NASA's Orion mission, which will take place in 2015. One of the suits will be used by Orion astronauts for performing emergency spacewalks. The suit is called "Configuration One". The second type, dubbed "Configuration Two", is going to be used by astronauts for performing certain works on the surface of the moon.

It would be worth mentioning that according to the spacesuit project manager Glenn Lutz the new suits created by Oceaneering International Inc. are going to be more mobile than the ones worn by astronauts on their first mission to the moon in 1960s. Due to the weight proportion and lack of bearing in the spacesuit during the Apollo mission astronauts had to hop about or lope in a somewhat strange way. Experts at Oceaneering state that the new spacesuit will feature more bearings, developed for a better mobility. According to Mr. Lutz, in 2020 astronauts may be free to move on the surface of the moon "just like walking across the desert floor to look at your favorite rock".

The list of partners of Oceaneering International Inc. includes: Air-Lock of Milford, Conn.; David Clark Co. of Worcester, Mass.; Cimarron Software Services of Houston; Harris Corp. of Palm Bay, Fla., Honeywell International of Glendale, Ariz.; Paragon Space Development Corp. of Tucson, Arizona; and United Space Alliance of Houston.

Dan Coulom, the spokesman for Hamilton Sundstrand, expressed his disappointment regarding the choice of NASA.

"We believe we submitted a competitive package from both a cost and technical standpoint. Hamilton Sundstrand will continue to work very closely with NASA on the One-EVA contract and on other programs to support America's space program," he added.