NASA’s Artemis III mission will use spacesuits designed by Axiom Space

NASA is already packing for the upcoming lunar landing, and it’s ordering some new spacesuits for the flight. Awarded a $228.5 million contract to Axiom Space to build a ‘lunar walk system’ for the return trip to the lunar surface, NASA announced Wednesday.

Axiom It was one of two companies In running to make spacesuits for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. NASA already has Limited offer Spacesuits for use on the International Space Station, but lunar spacesuits would have to be completely different. In addition to extreme temperature fluctuations, they will have to deal with the gravity of the Moon and well-known problem Lunar dust that tends to stick to everything.

NASA was working on their own lunar spacesuits and a statement Business is in progress in 2019. But last year, a report found that The development of these claims is delayed And that they would not be ready in time for the planned landing on the moon. Instead, in June, NASA announced that it had decided to outsource development of the lunar spacesuit to two companies: Collins Aerospace, which has Experimenting with building space suits for NASAand Axiom Space.

Axiom pre-arranged for Sending the first fully private crew To the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX rocket. The company’s long-term goals include Construction of a commercial space station.

NASA plans to use Axiom spacesuits on the future Artemis III mission, which will land the first woman on the moon. But first, the agency needs to obtain Artemis I mission on Earth. This mission, which will send an unmanned capsule beyond the Moon, will serve as a test mission for future flights, including Artemis III. she has Repeatedly.