SCIENCE
NASA unveils new Axiom Space suits for upcoming moon missions
NASA is preparing to finally put humans back on the Moon. In 2025, the Artemis III mission, the second manned mission of the Artemis programme and the first manned lunar landing since Apollo 17 back in 1972, should finally get underway.
To do this, however, NASA has been trying for a decade now to solve the problem of its space suits, which have been in use since the 1970s (designed for the missions Shuttle) and have now reached the end of their lives. For this very reason, on March 15, 2023, a contract was announced with Aixom Space, a company that will produce the next-generation suits.
With billion-dollar investments over 10 years, NASA has secured total control over the project, which may also see the entry of third parties should it be deemed appropriate. A presentation was also staged, the purpose of which was to show some details of the current prototype in the works.
NASA unveils new Axiom Space suits for upcoming moon missions
NASA is preparing to finally put humans back on the moon. In 2025, the Artemis III mission, the second manned mission of the Artemis programme and the first manned lunar landing since Apollo 17 back in 1972, should finally get underway. To do this, however, NASA has been trying for a decade now to solve the problem of its space suits, which have been in use since the 1970s (designed for the Shuttle missions) and have now reached the end of their lives. That is why, on 15 March 2023, a contract was announced with Aixom Space, the company that will produce the next generation of suits. With investments of billions of dollars over 10 years, NASA has secured total control over the project, which may also see the entry of third parties if deemed appropriate. A presentation was also staged, the purpose of which was to show some details of the current prototype in the works.
Next-generation space suits to return to the moon
At the dawn of the new mission that will take man back to the moon, NASA has reached an agreement for the production of the new spacesuits. The contracts, found through the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program (EHP), are two: with Axiom Space and with Collins Aerospace. The suit that was unveiled on 15 March 2023 is called the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU). The contract signed by NASA gives the US agency total freedom over the project, and there will therefore be the possibility of entering new contracts, or collaborating with other companies, should the need arise.
Di NASA - grin.hq.nasa.gov at the Wayback Machine (archived 2001-02-23), Pubblico dominio, https://c
NASA has had many problems with suits in recent years
During recent periods, NASA has had some problems with space suits. In fact, besides the fact that the current suits were designed for missions in the 1970s, there is a huge scarcity of sizes and dimensions. In fact, the so-called Emu, the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, in the past were designed to fit as many body volumes and silhouettes as possible, but mostly male models. Recently some "space walks" have been canceled precisely because of this problem. As the expert Pablo De León, director of Human Spaceflight Laboratory at the University of North Dakota explained : "These suits have reached the end of their useful life."
A step forward in technology
First of all, the real suits will be white, as a matter of temperature management. However, they have been built in collaboration with NASA, and are designed so that they can be worn autonomously, unlike now. These suits are supposed to have an eight-hour mission duration, but it seems that this time can be extended. In addition, these new suits are designed to fit different body sizes and dimensions. They are also more easily adaptable between different builds of men and women.
On March 15, 2023, it was publicly presented.
This last generation spacesuit was unveiled at the Moon 2 Mars Festival at the Houston Space Center, and is a prototype, while a full fleet of training spacesuits will be delivered to NASA by the end of the summer. During the presentation, an engineer from Axiom took the stage and showed some details and features of the suit, while also entertaining the children in attendance. The black color was also used to hide some details that are exclusive to Axiom.
A suit with high potential
As the Axiom Space website makes directly known: "The space suit will provide astronauts with advanced capabilities for space exploration, making available to NASA commercially developed human systems needed to access, live and work on and around the Moon. The advanced space suit provides astronauts with robust, high-performance equipment and is designed to accommodate a wide range of crew members."
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Nature
22/04/2024
Bees play a vital role in the ecosystem, pollinating plants and ensuring food production. Bees provide us with valuable products that have been used for millennia in both cooking and body care such as honey, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, wax, and even poison.
However, bees are threatened from many sources, including habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change.
It is important that we all take steps to protect bees and their environment.
In this photo gallery, we offer eight practical tips to save bees.