Spacesuits of Artemis astronauts to get upgraded 

If you keep tabs on space news, you must know about NASA’s upcoming Artemis mission that is all set to be the first human landing on the moon since 1972. Now, ahead of the mission, NASA has decided to upgrade their traditional white and bulky spacesuits that are more than five decades old. With what you say? With a brand-new suit that will be nimbler and more comfortable and can fit in a wider range of body types.  

Okay, so who got the commission to design and develop these spacesuits for the Artemis astronauts? Well, that will be Axiom Space, the American privately funded space manufacturer. In fact, the company recently unveiled a suit prototype lined with protective layers. But they didn’t exactly reveal how it will look like and said it was for proprietary reasons.  

Deemed as the AxEMU suit, it will be flexible to enhance mobility. The goal is to improve the astronauts’ ability to do all kinds of tasks while wearing it on the lunar surface.  

Sources cite that the suit will incorporate necessary elements from earlier NASA suits while giving it a cutting-edge sci-fi appearance. As known so far, it will be a sleek, grayish white one, with touches of orange and blue. It will also carry Axiom logo in front and NASA logo at the centre. Why white? Because it reflects more sunlight, a feature vital enough to float on the moon’s airless surface. In addition, the suit is designed to save the astronauts from severely high temperatures. It also has a large clear bubble around the head for better visibility and lighting, alongside a mount for high-definition camera. It is also designed to protect the astronauts from lunar dust, optimum air pressure, radiation and micro meteorites. 

As per latest reports, the suit will be first worn during the Artemis III mission in 2025. What’s interesting here is that, initially, NASA had attempted to build its own spacesuits and even spent 14 years on it. They were ready with two suit designs by 2016 and had spent 200 million USD on the project. But last year they eventually gave up as the process was becoming expensive and prolonged and handed it over to Axiom Space for a 3.5 billion USD contract. Furthermore, this brand-new suit design is set to accommodate the first woman and first person of colour to the moon.  

Apart from constructing new suits, Axiom Space is busy flying private astronauts to the International Space Station. It is also on its way to build a commercial space station of its own in the Lower Earth Orbit.