NASA Requires Development of Gloves and Footwear Resistant to Moon's Extremely Cold Conditions
Blasting off to Brrr-illiant: Chilling Out with CITADEL's Lunar Love-In for Artemis III
Gearing up for some serious frostbite fun, NASA's cutting-edge lab, CITADEL (Cryogenic Ice Testing, Acquisition Development, and Excavation Laboratory), is about to give astronauts a run for their money, all in the name of science and style! This badass facility, originally designed to test robot parts for Mars-bound missions, is now getting down and dirty with NASA's Artemis III mission to the Moon's South Pole. Let's dive in and check out the lowdown on this cool-as-a-cucumber lab and its gloved hand in the lunar baking, shall we?
Zach Fester, a can-do NASA rockstar with the Advanced Suit Team at NASA Johnson, explains it all: "We wanna know if it's gonna freeze our astronauts' asses off in those permanently shadowed regions of the lunar South Pole, and gloves and boots are crucial cause they contact the icy terrain for way longer than our astronauts are comfy with". Sounds like an icy-hot challenge if ever there was one!
Soaring 4-feet tall and spanning 5-feet wide, CITADEL is housed deep within NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory - not your average suburban garage! Instead of the usual liquid nitrogen cooling system you'd find in most cryogenic facilities, CITADEL uses compressed helium to chill out to a mind-boggling -370°F (-223°C), making it a certifiable icicle palace! To reach these deeply-frozen lower temperatures, CITADEL needs a few days of intense chilling, and any hasty peeks can start the whole process over again. Yikes, talk about commitment to the freeze!
When it comes to testing, CITADEL is packed with state-of-the-art gear. Four load locks act like stylish storage drawers, enabling test materials to be added while maintaining the chamber's chilly vacuum state. A deft robotic arm grabs the test gear, while both visible and infrared cameras capture every icy moment. Best of all, the lab is equipped with abrasion testing, lunar regolith-simulating materials, and aluminum blocks to mimic lunar tools for an authentic testing experience.
Previously, NASA relied on human volunteers, forcing brave astronauts to shove their gloved hands into a chilled glove box and clutch icy objects for dear life until their skin temperatures dipped as low as 50°F (10°C). These days, the old-fashioned astronauts have been retired in favor of a more precise, custom-built manikin hand and foot. These mechanical marvels are filled with fluid-loop systems to replicate the flow of warm blood through human extremities and feature dozens of temperature and heat flux sensors for meticulous data collection.
With the Artemis III mission set to touch down in 2027, sending us back to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo days, prepare to suit up in some seriously fashion-forward spacer digs! In 2022, the task of designing these new-gen spacesuits has been left to Axiom Space, who've unveiled the sleek AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit). This bad boy is built on the legacy of the Apollo suits, incorporating brand new tech to boost astronaut adaptability and survivability in the lunar wilderness. They've even partnered with none other than designer powerhouse Prada for an added dash of glamour on the Moon. It's gonna be a lunar fashion week like no other!
Just like the Apollo days, the old gloves are giving these new-gen AxEMU spacesuits a run for their money. The current glove models, which have been in service since the 1980s, are struggling to cut the mustard in CITADEL tests, falling short of the thermal requirements for the lunar South Pole's extreme conditions. Fortunately, the test results on the boots remain under lock and key, leaving us on the edge of our seats for the final verdict.
Shane McFarland, tech genius and Advanced Suit Team leader at NASA Johnson, shares his excitement about the testing process: "We're looking to find the tipping point: Just how long can these gloves and boots last in those lunar conditions? We want to quantify the capabilities of current hardware to give Axiom Space a heads-up, and we're also planning to develop this unique test capability for evaluating future lunar spacesuit designs".
With NASA's Artemis III mission set to launch in 2027, the Moon's shadowy South Pole promises to be a chilly playground for astronauts, and CITADEL won't let our brave space explorers catch hypothermia mid-stroll. In thisintense and icy competition, it's gloves and boots that will make or break our chances of conquering the Moon's iciest unknowns. So, stay tuned, folks! This icy showdown is just getting started, and we'll be cheering our astronauts on every step of the way!
- CITADEL, the cryogenic lab that is trial-running astronaut gear for NASA's Artemis III mission, is where the future of space technology intertwines with the science of space and astronomy.
- In the race to find out if future astronauts will feel the chill in the Moon's permanently shadowed regions, CITADEL's test results could potentially steer the direction of technology in the realm of space-and-astronomy, as reported by Gizmodo.
- As both current gloves and boots undergo rigorous testing at CITADEL, there's a sense of anticipation and competition brewing in the space arena, with these gizmos set to make or break the exploration of the Moon's South Pole in 2027.
- With Axiom Space already progressing on designing the next generation of spacesuits for the Artemis III mission, CITADEL's testing results will surely shed light on the improvements needed in spacesuit technology to ensure safe and successful lunar explorations.
