NASA Requires Development of Frost-Resistant Gloves and Footwear for Lunar Excursions
Here's a reimagined take on NASA's lunar adventure:
Ready, Set, Chill: NASA's Moon Missions Step Up The Freezer Game
NASA's upcoming expedition to the Moon's frigid south pole requires some serious cold gear for the astronauts. A team of NASA's finest minds are busy testing out the next-gen suit fabrics in a massive deep-freeze chamber known as CITADEL, short for Cryogenic Ice Testing, Acquisition Development, and Excavation Laboratory. Originally built to trial robot parts for spaceship journeys to icy cosmic realms like the moons of our solar system, CITADEL is now lending a hand for humanity's long-awaited lunar comeback.
Zach Fester, a sharp engineer with NASA Johnson's Advanced Suit Team and technical guru for boot testing, said, "We got to figure out the risks for our astronauts diving into the Moon's permanently shadowed regions, and gloves and boots are essential since they're the ones making prolonged contact with frosty surfaces and tools."
CITADEL stands a statuesque 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide, and it's no ice cube. Housed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, it operates using a unique cooling method with compressed helium rather than liquid nitrogen, dropping temperatures as low as -370 degrees Fahrenheit (-223 Celsius) – colder than your average icebox! Reaching those icy depths takes several days, and opening up the chamber could mean starting the chilling process all over again. To avoid such snafus, CITADEL equips itself with four load locks, which are basically drawers that keep the chamber's chilled vacuum state while allowing materials to be added or removed.
CITADEL's got a robotic arm that lifts test materials, as well as cameras monitoring the testing process in both visible and infrared light. To simulate the brutal lunar missions, the team will include abrasion tests and Moon-like material, along with aluminum blocks mimicking astronaut tools, in the chamber.
In the past, NASA used their hardy astronauts for thermal testing, asking them to insert their gloved hands into a chilled glove box, seize sub-zero objects, and hold on tight until their digits dropped to a chilly 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). But these days, our heroes are protected by a specially-designed manikin hand and foot for testing. The manikin's extremities are fitted with fluid loops that mimic the heat of a human body's blood flow, and sensors collect temperature and heat flux data from inside the gloves and boots.
The Artemis 3 mission, scheduled for launch in 2027, plans to put astronaut boots on the cold lunar ground for the first time since the Apollo era. In contrast to the Apollo crews who landed near the Moon's equator on the Sun-lit side, Artemis teams will venture into the cratered landscapes surrounding the south pole. These regions may carry vast deposits of water ice in their shady nooks, making them scientific gold, but they come with a severe price tag – extreme cold and regions so dark that sunlight doesn't reach. The Artemis astronauts can expect to spend about two hours at a time in the icy craters, where temperatures can plummet to a bone-chilling -414 degrees Fahrenheit (-248 degrees Celsius), according to NASA.
Get ready to see some stylish space gear when the new decade of lunar explorers touch down on the Moon. In 2022, NASA handed the job of designing those trendy suits to Axiom Space, who unveiled the sleek AxEMU. With inspiration from the classic Apollo suits and a blend of innovative technology, AxEM Space aims to deliver suits offering improved mobility and better protection against the lunar environment. To add a touch of fashion, they teamed up with luxury fashion brand Prada, who brought their renowned design skills and materials expertise to the table.
The ongoing trials in CITADEL are helping NASA establish criteria for the next-gen AxEMU suits. So far, the gloves being tested in the chamber are the sixth iteration of gloves dating back to the 1980s. They've been part of the suit worn by astronauts on the International Space Station for spacewalks. With unpromising results from CITADEL, NASA's learned that the gloves won't cut it for the lunar south pole. The boot test results are still being analyzed, but expect big changes coming to those lunar kicks!
Shane McFarland, NASA's tech development lead for the Advanced Suit Team, shared his insight, "This experiment is all about setting limits: How long can those gloves or boots handle their Moon time? We want to gauge the existing hardware's capability gap so we can share that intel with the Artemis suit vendor, and we're also developing this unique test method to weigh future suit designs."
Fingers crossed that the tech-savvy lunar explorers will be snug as a bug in a rug as they venture into the chilly shadows of the Moon's south pole!
- In the future, NASA's Artemis 3 mission, planned for 2027, will see astronauts wearing next-generation suits designed by Axiom Space, aiming for improved mobility and better protection against the lunar environment.
- The ongoing trials in NASA's CITADEL, a deep-freeze chamber used for testing space-related technologies, are essential for establishing criteria for the new AxEMU suits intended for lunar exploration.
- The axEMU suits, a blend of innovative technology and an homage to the classic Apollo suits, are currently being designed in collaboration with luxury fashion brand Prada, as part of the future of space-and-astronomy wearables.
- The gloves and boots that astronauts will use during the lunar missions are being extensively tested in CITADEL to assess their durability in the freezing temperatures and harsh conditions of the Moon's south pole, pushing the boundaries of technology and science.
- As the lunar adventure continues, the future of space exploration is set to include advanced gadgets and wearables that rival the style and function of luxury gizmodo, ensuring that astronauts are equipped to conquer the challenges of space travel and unlock the scientific potential within the cosmos.
