More flexible and efficient, it will be significantly different from previous models. Mobility and range of motion have been improved over the Apollo program.
The next combination is softer than the previous one. Normand Grondin’s report.
Photo: Associated Press/David J Phillip
Axiom Space chief engineer Jim Stein showed him waving his arms, crouching, and even crouching.
If the prototype is black and orange to keep certain aspects of the development secret, the model that will take the direction of the moon will be white, a color that allows better reflecting the sun’s rays and better regulating the temperature internally.
NASA paid $228.5 million for this first order for Artemis 3.
On the moon, the suits have to withstand a particularly harsh environment. At the South Pole, where the Artemis missions will land, temperatures of over 50 °C can occur, but also very cold (down to below 200 °C at the bottom of some craters). Other difficulties: dust or sharp stones.
Enlarge picture (New window)The prototype of the moon suit
Photo: NASA
The materials used for the different layers of the suit are therefore insulating, tear-resistant and prevent dust from sticking, explained Russell Ralston, deputy director of the space program.
The suits will not be fully bespoke for each astronaut, but there will be a variety of sizes.
The helmet features headlights as well as a high-resolution camera that allows live monitoring of the excursion from the ground.
Astronauts don the suit by opening it from the back. They will also carry a backpack containing everything they need to survive, such as a bottle of compressed air and an air conditioner, very sophisticated and combined, Russell Ralston described.
The suits can be worn for at least eight consecutive hours to conduct rehearsals and other scientific investigations.
While the company called the suit revolutionary, one thing won’t change since the Apollo days: Astronauts will still wear diapers underneath for their natural needs.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin photographed by Neil Armstrong during the Appolo 11 mission.
Photo: Getty Images/Neil Armstrong/NASA
Designing a space suit is very difficult and has not been done in the United States since the days of the space shuttle. The technology used today for exits outside the International Space Station (ISS) is the same as it was around 40 years ago.
Axiom Space and another company, Collins Aerospace, are also responsible for developing new spacewalk suits.
Until now, NASA owned their suits, but decided on a different model for the future and rented them out to the private sector.
However, the Axiom-designed ones, called AxEMU (for Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit), represent about 50% of NASA’s most recent research, which has made its knowledge available to companies, said Michael Suffredini, head of Axiom Space.