Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, can help reduce the mass of hard-shell space suits and also allows for the potential for in-situ fabrication and repair of suits.

How Space Suits Are Evolving for Missions Beyond the Moon. ... The Z-2 is the newest prototype, with a bubble helmet, hard upper torso, ... Launius says a hard-shell suit is optimal but impractical.

Modular, 3-D printed or skintight, the new space suits for life on Mars need to be comfortable and fiercely protective of the human inside.

The white suit is made of heavy-duty nylon fabric; carbon fiber that forms a hard shell for the upper torso area; and foam that replicates the pressurization of an actual suit.

The outcome of their collaboration is a new fabric for the outer layer of space suits, called the environmental protection garment (EPG) shell, that will prevent lunar dust particles from penetrating ...

From 1966 through the 1990s, NASA Ames worked on a series of hard space suits designed for greater mobility. This is one of the earlier models, from 1966. That's inventor Vic Vykukal inside.