NASA officially presented the AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit), the space suit for the return to the Moon in the Artemis III Mission. The administrator of the aerospace agency, Bill Nelson, was in charge of the event.
The Artemis Program seeks to put the first woman and the next man on the Moon. As planned, the Artemis III Mission will take place in 2025.
“NASA’s partnership with Axiom is critical to getting astronauts to the Moon and continuing America’s leadership in space,” Bill Nelson said on the spot.
“Building on NASA’s years of research and experience, Axiom’s next-generation spacesuits will not only allow the first woman to walk on the Moon, They will also open up opportunities for more people to explore and do science on the Moon than ever before.”
The suit has the range of motion and flexibility needed to explore the lunar landscape, as well as the ability to adapt almost any crew member, male or female.
Axiom Space was in charge of the design, development, qualification, certification and production of the flight training spacesuits and support equipment.
According to NASA, Axiom will test the suit in a space-like environment prior to the mission. Meanwhile, the agency will maintain “the authority for astronaut training, mission planning, and service system approval.”
Why is the new NASA space suit not white, like the previous ones?
But many were surprised by a feature that breaks with the tradition of the aerospace agency: the suit is not white, but dark gray.
Calm Calm. At the moment, as NASA explains, it’s just a prototype: “The final version probably it will be completely white when worn by NASA astronauts on the surface of the Moon.”
During the previous trips to the Moon and throughout the American space program, the equipment of each astronaut was white. The explanation is that the color favors the cooling and heating systems, in addition to reflecting much of the incident radiation, especially sunlight.
Besides, white material helps make astronauts visible to crew members, even in the darkness of Earth’s shadow.
This is emphasized by NASA in its AxEMU presentation: “(The color white is used to) help to keeping astronauts safe and cool while working in the harsh environment of space.”
The Artemis II Mission will take astronauts into orbit of the Moon: it is expected to take place in 2024. A year later, on Artemis III, the selected crew will descend to the surface of our natural satellite.
