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The Artemis 3 spacesuit prototype, made my US company Axiom Space.
Photograph: Axiom Space Handout/EPA
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The big, puffy white moonsuits worn by Neil Armstrong and his fellow Apollo
astronauts a half-century ago are out of fashion. Lunar haute couture now
calls for something more form-fitting and comfortable for men and women.
Nasa on Wednesday unveiled the first prototype for a newly designed
next-generation spacesuit specially tailored and accessorised for the first
astronauts expected to venture back to the moon’s surface in the next few
years.
The latest in moon-wear was displayed at the Johnson Space Center in Houston
during an event hosted for the media and students by Axiom Space, the
Texas-based company contracted by Nasa to build suits for Artemis, successor
to the Apollo moon program.
The Artemis 1 mission, the inaugural launch of Nasa’s powerful
next-generation rocket and its newly built Orion spacecraft on an uncrewed
test flight around the moon and back, was successfully completed in
December.
Nasa and the Canadian Space Agency plan to announce the four astronauts
chosen to fly as early as next year on Artemis 2, another out-and-back
mission.
That flight, if successful, will pave the way for a planned Artemis 3
astronaut expedition to the lunar surface - the first ever to the moon’s
south pole - later in the decade. It will be the first ever to send a woman
to walk on the moon.
Nasa promises that subsequent Artemis missions will include the first person
of colour on the moon.
The program, named for Apollo’s twin sister from Greek mythology, is aimed
ultimately at establishing a sustainable lunar base as a stepping stone to
future human exploration of Mars.
Nasa chief Bill Nelson said the new spacesuits “will open opportunities for
more people to explore and conduct science on the moon then ever before.”
All 12 Nasa astronauts who landed on the moon during a total of six Apollo
missions from 1969 to 1972 were white men.
The outfits worn to the moon by Artemis astronauts will look very different
from the bulky spacesuits of yore.
Branded by Axiom as the “Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit,” or AxEMU for
short, the new suits are more streamlined and flexible than the old Apollo
suits, with greater range of motion and variability in size and fit.
They are designed to fit a broad range of potential wearers, accommodating
at least 90% of the US male and female population, Nasa said. They also will
incorporate advances in life-support systems, pressure garments and
avionics.
The precise look of the suits, however, remained a closely guarded trade
secret. Those on display came with an outer layer that was charcoal gray
with dashes of orange and blue and Axiom’s logo on the chest – intended to
obscure Axiom’s proprietary outer fabric design.
The company said the suits to be worn on the lunar south pole by astronauts
will be white because that is the best colour to reflect the harsh sunlight
on the moon’s surface and protect the wearer from extreme heat.