NASA presented the space suit that the astronauts of the Artemis III mission will wear to explore the Moon.
This presentation was made at a special event, which not only showed the prototype of the space suit created by Axiom Space, but also some interesting details behind this design were revealed.
The Artemis III mission space suit
Artemis III is scheduled for 2025, and as time goes by we are learning more details about this mission. For example, all the data related to the spacesuit that the astronauts will wear on the mission.
Axiom Space is the company in charge of manufacturing the spacesuit, whose main objective is to obtain a design that is safe and that facilitates the mobility of astronauts during exploration.
While NASA’s spacesuit design has served its purpose on past missions, it had serious limitations in terms of range of motion.
So while some of NASA’s prototype development was used as a basis, the design has been refined to facilitate mobility, enhance safety, provide greater protection for the new environment, and meet thermal requirements due to the low temperatures that they will meet on their exploration of the Moon.
The spacesuit will provide astronauts with advanced capabilities for space exploration while also providing NASA commercially developed human systems needed to access, live and work on and around the Moon.
This is the space suit they will use on the Moon
At the presentation, Jim Stein, Axiom Space’s chief engineer, gave a demonstration using the spacesuit prototype.
He made different movements to show the flexibility of this design, both in the body and in the gloves. A dynamic that will make it easier for astronauts to, for example, bend down to pick up an object during their exploration.
Taking a look at some of its characteristics of this design we find, for example, that the helmet of the suit integrates a light band. This is intended to help astronauts have better visibility on their spacewalks.
And of course, a video camera will also be included in the helmet to capture everything in its path and carry out live transmissions. On the other hand, the boots have a special coating to insulate the cold and keep the feet of the astronauts warm, among other details that have been taken into account so that they can overcome the challenges of the mission:
Axiom Space’s Artemis III spacesuit will be ready to face the complex challenges of the lunar south pole and help further our understanding of the Moon to enable a long-term presence there.
Although in the presentation, and in the shared images, it can be seen that the spacesuit is dark gray, the final spacesuit will be white, since it is essential to reflect heat and protect the astronauts.
Photos courtesy of Axiom Space
