In 2026, NASA plans to land humans on the moon for the first time since 1972. Times have changed, as evidenced by new rockets, spacecraft and spacesuits.
In preparation for the Artemis 3 moon landing mission, two astronauts put on the new spacesuits from Axiom Space at the end of April and tested for the first time a mock version of the vehicle that will take them to the moon.
Scientists and engineers say the test – the first of its kind since the Apollo era – provided feedback on how well the spacesuits built by Axiom, worked with a test version of SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System (HLS), NASA’s vehicle of choice to transport astronauts to and from the moon during the Artemis 3 mission. They were able to measure the layout of the HLS, including its layout, physical design and clearances, according to a NASA statement.
The three-hour test, which was conducted at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, was also useful to assess the space suits’ flexibility, and the ease with which you could get in and out of them before placing them in the air with minimal assistance. airlock could store.
Two astronauts, Peggy Whitson of Axiom Space and Doug Wheelock of NASA, donned spacesuits in a full-scale mockup of the airlock located on Starship’s airlock deck. Each spacesuit also contained a full ‘backpack’ model of the portable life support system, according to a rack from Axiom.
During the test, the astronauts interacted with a control panel in the airlock to ensure the controls were within easy reach and could be activated while wearing gloves, NASA said. They also practiced using a test elevator, which will take astronauts and their equipment from the spaceship deck to the moon’s surface for lunar walks during Artemis program missions.
“Overall, I was pleased with the astronauts’ operation of the control panel and their ability to perform the difficult tasks they will have to do before entering the moon,” said Logan Kennedy, chief of surface operations at HLS NASA program. in the NASA statement. “The test also confirmed that the amount of space available in the airlock, on the deck and in the elevator is sufficient for the work our astronauts intend to do.”
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In March last year, NASA and Axiom launched revealed a prototype spacesuit, the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), which is being designed to be worn by astronauts both in flight and on the moon. The company has moved past the preliminary design review point with NASA and will enter a critical design review phase later this year, Axiom said in its statement.
“Integrated testing like this, with key programs and partners working together, is critical to ensuring systems operate smoothly and are safe and effective for astronauts before they take the next steps on the moon,” said Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s Moon to Mars Program Manager. said in the NASA statement.
In April, Axiom tested one of the unoccupied spacesuits at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, for which the company added weights to the suit to simulate the lunar environment, where gravity is only one-sixth that of Earth. An astronaut will soon don the suit for the first test run in the water, the company said in its latest statement.
Meanwhile, the astronauts’ ride to the moon, Starship, is being developed by SpaceX to be fully reusable to support economically viable trips to the moon and ultimately Mars. On Friday (June 7), the company moved closer to that goal with a successful fourth test flight that ended in smooth water landings for both the vehicle’s Super Heavy booster and the Starship itself.
However, humanity’s return to the moon is now expected to occur no earlier than September 2026, after NASA his landing plans have been postponed from the originally targeted landing in late 2025. Problems with the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield, life support systems and an electrical system in the crew abort system contributed to the delays.
“As we prepare to send our friends and colleagues on this mission, we want to make the launch as safe as possible,” NASA associate administrator Jim Free had told reporters during a media teleconference in January. “And we will launch when we are ready.”