IVAActive🇺🇸
Orion Crew Survival System
Designation: OCSS
The suit that carried the first crew around the Moon since 1972 — orange like ACES, but with major mobility gains for long-duration lunar transit.
About This Suit
The Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) is the intravehicular activity suit designed for the Artemis program's Orion spacecraft. Manufactured by David Clark Company — the same company that built the Mercury, Gemini, LES, and ACES suits — the OCSS descends from ACES architecture but incorporates significant improvements to mobility, comfort, and long-duration wearability needed for lunar transit missions lasting up to 21 days. It features single-volume pressurization simpler than the dual-volume ACES, improved shoulder and hip mobility, and new glove bladder design rated for elevated pressure cycling. Artemis I (2022) flew two instrumented mannequins named Campos and Helga wearing OCSS suits. Artemis II — flown April 1–10, 2026 — carried the first crewed Orion on the first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years; on Flight Day 5 the crew performed an in-flight suit demonstration, donning and checking out the OCSS ahead of the lunar flyby.
Key Features
- 1Descends from ACES heritage but redesigned for 21-day lunar transit duration
- 2Single-volume pressurization (simpler, more reliable than ACES dual-volume)
- 3Improved shoulder and hip mobility vs. ACES — more natural movement during transit
- 4Custom-fitted to each Artemis crew member individually
- 5Orange coloration maintained for search-and-rescue visibility tradition
- 6Integrated parachute harness, flotation, and survival equipment for ocean splashdown
Historic Missions
2022
Artemis I
Mannequins Campos and Helga wore OCSS suits on first uncrewed Orion mission to the Moon and back
2026
Artemis II (flown Apr 1–10, 2026)
First crewed Orion and first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen; crew demonstrated OCSS suit don/doff and checkout in flight on Flight Day 5
👨🚀 Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen
Engineering & Research Highlights
- ◆Single-volume pressurization development simplified suit performance verification vs. ACES dual-volume system
- ◆Artemis I mannequin radiation data informs OCSS material optimization for deep-space cosmic ray exposure
- ◆Artemis II Flight Day 5 in-flight suit demo (April 2026) validated OCSS donning, pressurization checkout, and habitability in deep space