Spacesuits are the primary source of protection and life support for lunar colonists, providing shielding from radiation and some kinetic impacts while maintaining a breathable internal atmosphere at the right temperature and pressure for human survival and comfort.

The early spacesuits used for lunar exploration were bulky affairs. Designed for astronauts that would spend most of their time in space transit. The aim was to provide as much protection as possible to the wearer in flight or on spacewalks. The expectation was that the wearer used vehicles for mobility, rather than walking.

Once permanent settlements were established on Luna, colonists began to require a greater degree of flexibility. The previous suits made manual movement difficult, so various systems and protective layers were dropped to free up the arms and legs.

These early moon spacesuits provided a much greater freedom of movement but required that the user regularly return to habitats or vehicles to replenish their energy and oxygen supplies. Later suits began to integrate alien tech into the life support systems, allowing for far greater oxygen recycling and storage.

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Alpha

The Alpha suit was revolutionary for its time. Featuring a compact CO2 recycling system that massively increased the effective oxygen supply, it also sported an all-new in-built computer that could read out manuals and instructions based on simple vocal commands.

This new information storage meant that wearers were considerably less dependent on local comms systems and could act far more independently of signal range and available radio handlers.

Added padding and surface mesh protection also reduced the risk of fatality or oxygen loss during Alien encounters.

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Beta

The Beta suit was a significant advance on the older Alpha suit. Many smaller fixes and upgrades were applied to improve suit integrity and protection at seals and flex points, boosting oxygen retention and joint protection.

Increased miniaturization of energy storage methods allowed another battery pack to be added, further increasing the duration of the suit oxygen supply.

The simple database of the older system was replaced with an interactive heads-up display projected onto the helmet’s visor, and sensors would monitor the surrounding environment and trigger pre-recorded advice or troubleshooting when certain items or operations were registered in front of the helmet.

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Gamma

The peak of spacesuit development at the time of its creation, the Gamma spacesuit spared no expense. Tight magnetic seals on the connection points brought air loss down to a minimum, and advanced CO2 recyclers based on alien tech steadily replenished the oxygen concentration when worn. The result of this was that the suit had an almost infinite supply of oxygen.

One of the most remarkable features was the sentient onboard computer. The suit AI was capable of providing advice, heads-up displays, and even polite conversation, all the while monitoring health status indicators to reduce oxygen consumption while learning from its wearer’s experiences.

Finally, the spacesuit was coated with a fine layer of reactive armor that would harden on impact, protecting the wearer. Billed as the future of lunar exploration, the suits were only produced in limited quantity before contact with the AI factories was cut off, preventing the supply of additional miniaturized AI systems.