The U.S. space agency has tested the spacesuits that will be used during lunar missions under the Artemis program. Astronauts worked in them at the bottom of a giant pool at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.
Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
The American Artemis lunar program is gradually approaching its culmination—the moment when a human once again sets foot on the surface of our natural satellite. To accomplish this, astronauts will need specialized spacesuits. As www.space.com reports, preparations are proceeding at full speed.
The spacesuit’s principal developers are Axiom Space and the fashion house Prada. A recent test was conducted at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas. Its central feature is a giant pool measuring 62 meters long, 41 meters wide, and 18 meters deep.
The reason NASA operates such a facility is simple: equipment for space missions must somehow be tested on Earth under conditions that resemble those of space as closely as possible. However, creating a large chamber combining a vacuum and weightlessness on Earth is practically impossible. A pool of this kind is therefore used as the closest available approximation.
Test Results
The latest test was also unusual because it sought to recreate not only conditions in space, but specifically the shadowed areas of the lunar surface. The bottom of the pool was covered with material simulating lunar regolith, while the surrounding environment was kept in complete darkness.
Astronauts are expected to land near the Moon’s south pole, where such conditions are entirely natural. They must therefore practice working under powerful spotlights, as demonstrated during the test at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.
The astronauts also practiced installing equipment on the simulated surface in the same manner in which they will perform these tasks on the Moon.
