Photo: NASA
Ever since it embarked on what we now know to be the Artemis Moon exploration program, NASA has made it clear that everything that will be used for upcoming missions, from the rockets and spacecraft to spacesuits and tools, will have to be like nothing that has been before.
Very important items on the agency’s shopping list are the spacesuits that will keep astronauts alive on the surface of the Moon. In the works for a while now, these space garments will also be used by the less glamorous astronauts, those doing their work closer to our planet.
Spacesuits came to be back in the 1960s, naturally, a time when humanity was just beginning to venture beyond the borders of our world. Several designs, starting with the Mercury unit, have been made since. The spacesuit currently in use, known as the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, came about in the early 1980s, and, modified over time, it proved a trusted companion to humans in space.
The next spacesuit, the one meant for Artemis and beyond, is called Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) and was first detailed back in 2019. As per the limited specs released back then, it should be able to withstand temperatures ranging between minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade and up to 250 degrees in the sun (minus 156 to 121 degrees Celsius) and be dust-proof and dust-resistant.
People will have to climb inside the suit from the back, which should allow for the pieces of the hard upper torso to sit closer together. The suit will have a pressure garment inside to protect astronauts from extreme temperatures, radiation, micrometeoroids, and reduced atmospheric pressure.
Instead of the current snoopy cap headsets, the new suit will have voice-activated microphones, but the quick-snap visor stays, for obvious reasons.
Come next week, we’ll also learn the names of the companies that will be making the xEMU. NASA will make the announcement on June 1, marking another important step taken for the future of the Artemis program.
Spacesuits came to be back in the 1960s, naturally, a time when humanity was just beginning to venture beyond the borders of our world. Several designs, starting with the Mercury unit, have been made since. The spacesuit currently in use, known as the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, came about in the early 1980s, and, modified over time, it proved a trusted companion to humans in space.
The next spacesuit, the one meant for Artemis and beyond, is called Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) and was first detailed back in 2019. As per the limited specs released back then, it should be able to withstand temperatures ranging between minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade and up to 250 degrees in the sun (minus 156 to 121 degrees Celsius) and be dust-proof and dust-resistant.
People will have to climb inside the suit from the back, which should allow for the pieces of the hard upper torso to sit closer together. The suit will have a pressure garment inside to protect astronauts from extreme temperatures, radiation, micrometeoroids, and reduced atmospheric pressure.
Instead of the current snoopy cap headsets, the new suit will have voice-activated microphones, but the quick-snap visor stays, for obvious reasons.
Come next week, we’ll also learn the names of the companies that will be making the xEMU. NASA will make the announcement on June 1, marking another important step taken for the future of the Artemis program.
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