New Spacesuits Tested in Oregon at Apollo Training Sites

In preparation for the Artemis mission to the Moon, a team of researchers from several agencies recently tested new spacesuit technology in the Oregon High Desert, including a heads-up display and a smart glove.

IMAGE: NASA Haughton-Mars Project field test of new technologies for human Moon and Mars science and exploration in Oregon. Shown here is spacesuit engineer Jake Rohrig in the Collins Aerospace spacesuit for analog studies with its integrated Information Technologies and Informatics Subsystem (IT IS). Test site: Little Nash Crater, Oregon. CREDIT: NASA Haughton-Mars Project / Pascal Lee

Despite the looming threat of climate change, this year continues on its inexorable march toward 2022, which is almost unbelievable to me since I swear it’s still 2020.

We also continue to make progress toward that somewhat nebulous date when NASA will launch the Artemis mission. That mission’s goal is to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon, with a landing site near the lunar south pole where accessible water ice is most likely to be found. And while we have focused mainly on the transportation to get back to the Moon, rockets and vehicles are not the only concern. Our next story takes a look at another important aspect of the mission — spacesuits.

After all, the latest SpaceX suits are cool and all, but they’re not good for wandering the surface of the Moon.

To that end, NASA’s Haughton-Mars Project in conjunction with the SETI Institute, Mars Institute, Collins Aerospace, and Ntention have been field testing…