NASA once again proves to the world that it’s willing to take the upcoming Artemis mission very seriously. The space agency aims to send a man and a woman to the Moon by 2024, and the milestone will mark the return of humans to our natural satellite after more than half a century. The last time it happened was in December 1972, when Harrison H. Schmitt, Ronald E. Evans, and Eugene Cernan engaged in the Apollo 17 mission.
NASA began to test the spacesuit that astronauts will wear during the Artemis mission. The testing took place at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Pool from NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Being underwater, the astronauts could experience a similar environment to the Moon’s lower gravity.
A mock lunar surface present at the pool’s bottom
Not only that the water is able to simulate the Moon’s gravity, but the pool’s bottom is also able to provide astronauts with the feeling of actually being on Earth’s natural satellite. During the testing, astronauts have been busy practicing the usage of various tools, climbing a ladder, sampling the surface, and also planting a flag into the ground like it happened during the Moon landing mission from 1969.
NASA’s extravehicular activity test lead Daren Walsh declared:
At the same time, we are going to be able to gather valuable feedback on spacewalk tools and procedures that will help inform some of the objectives for the missions,
The goal for the upcoming Artemis mission is to start building a base on the Moon for more detailed cosmic explorations. Such a milestone will represent the preliminary step for a much more ambitious mission to Mars, as many astronomers are optimistic about the chances of humanity to be able to colonize the Red Planet one day in the not-so-close future.
