HOUSTON – A spacesuit prototype of what NASA astronauts, including the first woman, plan to wear on the surface of the Moon during the agency’s Artemis III mission, was revealed Wednesday at Space Center Houston.
NASA selected Axiom Space to deliver a moonwalking system to land the first astronauts near the lunar South Pole, according to a news release. Planned during the reveal activities were remarks from NASA and Axiom Space experts, a suit demonstration, as well as question-and-answer sessions.
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Participants in the reveal included:
- Bob Cabana, associate administrator, NASA
- Vanessa Wyche, center director, NASA Johnson Space Center
- Lara Kearney, manager, Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program, NASA Johnson
- Kate Rubins, NASA astronaut
- Michael Suffredini, president and CEO, Axiom Space
- Mark Greeley, program manager for Extravehicular Activity, Axiom Space
- Russell Ralston, deputy program manager for Extravehicular Activity, Axiom Space
- Peggy Whitson, Axiom-2 commander, Axiom Space
- John Shoffner, Axiom-2 pilot, Axiom Space
“New spacesuits that allow humans to explore the lunar surface advance our capability for human exploration in space,” A spokesperson for NASA said. “Under Artemis, new exploration spacesuits and other human surface mobility systems, the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion Spacecraft, ground systems, Gateway, and human landing systems, will enable NASA to return humans to the Moon and establish a long-term presence there for scientific discovery. This experience prepares us for the next giant leap: sending astronauts to Mars.”