The American company Axiom Space has announced plans to conduct critical tests of spacesuits for participants in NASA’s Artemis III mission (Artemis-3). It is expected to take place in 2026 and involves humans landing on the Moon. This situation was officially reported Web site Axiom Space.
The company introduced the prototype of the Axiom Extravehicle Mobility Unit (AxEMU) protective suit in 2023. The new spacesuit is designed not only for being on the Moon, but also for working in space. Numerous industry organizations were involved in the creation of AxEMU, including companies such as KBR, Air-Lock, Arrow Science and Technology, David Clark Company, Paragon Space Development Corporation and others.
AxEMU is expected to be more flexible than the older Apollo mission suits used in the 1960s and 1970s. At the same time, the equipment needs to provide greater protection against the cold, as Artemis 3’s plan includes landing near the Moon’s south pole, where ice deposits may be present.
Axiom noted that a person on AxEMU could stay in permanently shadowed regions of the Moon for two or more hours and also use special instruments.
Over the next two years, Axiom Space will test AxEMU in vacuum chambers, simulating the effects of outer space. The equipment will also undergo underwater testing at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where astronauts train before spacewalks.
happened before knownIt was stated that all plans to send humans to the Moon have been postponed for at least a year.