NASA Moon Mission Spacesuit Nears Milestone

The next-generation spacesuit for NASA’s Artemis III mission continues to advance by passing a contractor-led technical review, as the agency prepares to send humans to the Moon’s South Pole for the first time. Testing is also underway for the new suits, built by Axiom Space, with NASA astronauts and spacesuit engineers recently simulating surface operations and tasks underwater to demonstrate safety and mobility. 

The AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit), is designed to give astronauts increased flexibility and improved mobility for moonwalking, including bending down to collect geology samples and perform a variety of scientific tasks. The suit features increased sizing options and adjustability to fit a wider range of crew members. It incorporates advanced life-support systems and enhanced protection to withstand the harsh lunar environment. Axiom Space is also developing specialized tools and equipment for work on the lunar surface, allowing astronauts to more easily gather geology samples.  

Now that Axiom Space has completed their technical review of the AxEMU, NASA will evaluate whether the spacesuit is ready for the agency’s Artemis III mission that will return American astronauts to the Moon. A NASA-led critical design sync review, which is an agency-required technical evaluation, will confirm that the design’s hardware and systems are on track for final testing and delivery. In parallel, Axiom Space has begun receiving parts for the first flight unit, which will be assembled later this spring.

“The completion of their internal review brings Axiom Space one step closer to delivering a next-generation lunar spacesuit,” said Lara Kearney, manager of the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program at Johnson Space Center in Houston. “This achievement reflects our shared commitment to deliver a safe, capable lunar spacesuit that will enable astronauts to explore the Moon’s surface.”

NASA and Axiom Space have conducted over 850 hours of pressurized testing with a person inside the AxEMU. Leading up to the review, teams conducted underwater and simulated lunar gravity tests of the AxEMU in facilities at NASA Johnson that demonstrate how the spacesuit’s capabilities will offer increased mobility as astronauts explore the Moon’s surface and prepare for missions to Mars. These tests allow astronauts and engineers to become familiar with the spacesuit and practice moving and performing tasks in a simulated lunar gravity environment, which is one-sixth the gravity we experience on Earth. Suit users have provided feedback on design, functionality, and safety.

Agency and Axiom Space teams recently finished the first series of test runs in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA Johnson. While in the 40-foot-deep pool, they weighted the AxEMU to match lunar gravity and assessed functionality and ease of movement.

Now, teams are in the middle of evaluating how well test subjects can perform tasks while wearing the spacesuit in different suit pressure levels in NASA Johnson’s Active Response Gravity Offload System facility. The agency uses an overhead lift system that connects to a spacesuit to create a reduced-gravity environment allowing anyone in the suit to walk around in simulated lunar gravity. Higher suit pressures reduce time to acclimate to the suits, enabling astronauts to spend more time walking on the lunar surface during Artemis missions.

Astronaut safety is NASA’s top priority for the Artemis campaign. Using more than 50 years of spacesuit expertise, NASA defined the technical and safety standards and requirements by which the next generation of lunar spacesuits are being built. At key milestones in the spacesuit’s development, NASA has and will continue to verify the AxEMU and its system deliverables to ensure the risk to the Artemis crew members is understood and minimized. 

NASA’s spacesuits contract is managed by the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program which serves as the agency’s program to develop next-generation spacesuits, human-rated rovers, and spacewalking tools, along with all required spacewalking support systems that will enable astronauts to survive and work outside the confines of a spacecraft to explore on and around the Moon. 

As part of a Golden Age of innovation and exploration, NASA’s Artemis astronauts will use these new spacesuits, along with advanced landers and rovers, to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to prepare for future human exploration of Mars.

Learn more about NASA’s Artemis campaign at:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis