NASA has unveiled two new space suits for its Artemis mission. Under the mission, “the first woman and the next man” will head to the moon in 2024.
Two NASA engineers modeled the new suits at the agency’s headquarter in Washington, DC. The Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, which is a bulky white prototype with blue and red arms, is designed for walking around the lunar surface. The suit will contain enough oxygen to sustain moonwalks for up to eight hours and is designed to sustain a temperature range of -150C to 120C. It’s more flexible than its predecessors allowing astronauts greater mobility.
Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at the Jonson Space Center, demonstrated this suit.
“Kristine is wearing a spacesuit that will fit all of our astronauts when we go to the moon,” Bridenstine said. “These are our spacesuits for the Artemis generation.”
“If we remember the Apollo generation, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin bunny-hopped on the surface of the moon,” Bridenstine said. “Now we are actually going to be able to walk on the surface of the moon, which is very different from our suits of the past.”
The Orion Crew Survival System, a bright orange pressure suit, is the second suit that NASA launched. It is to be worn when astronauts launch from Earth and return. Spacesuit engineer Dustin Gohmert wore this suit.
The spacesuits are designed as a one-size-fits all model after plans for the first female spacewalk were cancelled as there weren’t enough medium sized spacesuits.
“McClain learned during her first spacewalk that a medium-size hard upper torso – essentially the shirt of the spacesuit – fits her best. Because only one medium-size torso can be made ready by Friday, March 29, Koch will wear it,” NASA had stated.
Astronaut Christina Koch was initially scheduled to spacewalk with Anne McClain but was swapped for Nick Hague due to the unavailability of a proper sized spacesuit.
However, NASA is going to attempt another spacewalk soon.
NASA plans to land on the Moon’s South Pole under the Artemis mission. They plan to exploit its water ice, with plans to set it up as a staging ground for an eventual Mars mission.