There are many worlds and many systems of Universes existing all at the same time, all of them perishable.

— Anaximander 546 BC

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All Hands for Artemis III

NASA News - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 3:18pm
NASA/JPL-Caltech

A NASA spacesuit glove designed for use during spacewalks on the International Space Station is prepared for thermal vacuum testing inside a one-of-a-kind chamber called CITADEL (Cryogenic Ice Testing, Acquisition Development, and Excavation Laboratory) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Nov. 1, 2023.

Part of a NASA spacesuit design called the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, the glove was tested at vacuum and minus 352 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 213 degrees Celsius) — temperatures as frigid as those Artemis III astronauts could experience on the Moon’s South Pole. A team from NASA JPL, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, and the NASA Engineering and Safety Center have collaborated on testing gloves and boots in CITADEL. Elbow joints are slated for testing next. In addition to spotting vulnerabilities with existing NASA suit designs, the experiments will help the agency prepare criteria for test methods for the next-generation lunar suit — being built by Axiom Space — which NASA astronauts will wear during the Artemis III mission.

Read more about the testing needed for Artemis III.

Text credit: Melissa Pamer

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Categories: NASA

Hubble Space Telescope at 35 | Space photo of the day for April 24, 2025

Space.com - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 3:17pm
Thirty-five years ago today, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into Earth orbit.
Categories: Astronomy

'Bone collector' caterpillar wears dead insect body parts as disguise

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 3:00pm
A carnivorous caterpillar species camouflages itself with dead insects so it can live safely alongside spiders, stalking their webs and stealing their prey
Categories: Astronomy

'Bone collector' caterpillar wears dead insect body parts as disguise

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 3:00pm
A carnivorous caterpillar species camouflages itself with dead insects so it can live safely alongside spiders, stalking their webs and stealing their prey
Categories: Astronomy

See a cosmic 'smiley face' in the early morning sky as the moon greets Saturn and Venus tomorrow

Space.com - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 3:00pm
Nobody knows it, but the universe has a secret smile, and it uses it only for Earth.
Categories: Astronomy

Headquarters and Center Chief Counsel Contacts

NASA - Breaking News - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 2:38pm
Headquarters Centers
  • Chief Counsel, Ames Research Center
    Dan Hymer (Acting)

  • Chief Counsel, Armstrong Flight Research Center
    Brett Swanson

  • Chief Counsel, Glenn Research Center
    Callista M. Puchmeyer

  • Chief Counsel, Goddard Space Flight Center
    Dave G. Barrett

  • Chief Counsel, Johnson Space Center
    Randall T. Suratt

  • Chief Counsel, Kennedy Space Center
    Alex Vinson

  • Chief Counsel, Langley Research Center
    Andrea Z. Warmbier

  • Chief Counsel, Marshall Space Flight Center
    Pam A. Bourque

  • Chief Counsel, NASA Management Office at JPL
    James T. Mahoney

  • Chief Counsel, NASA Shared Service Center
    Ron Bald

  • Chief Counsel, NASA Stennis Space Center
    Ron Bald

Return to OGC Homepage
Categories: NASA

Headquarters and Center Chief Counsel Contacts

NASA News - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 2:38pm
Headquarters Centers
  • Chief Counsel, Ames Research Center
    Dan Hymer (Acting)

  • Chief Counsel, Armstrong Flight Research Center
    Brett Swanson

  • Chief Counsel, Glenn Research Center
    Callista M. Puchmeyer

  • Chief Counsel, Goddard Space Flight Center
    Dave G. Barrett

  • Chief Counsel, Johnson Space Center
    Randall T. Suratt

  • Chief Counsel, Kennedy Space Center
    Alex Vinson

  • Chief Counsel, Langley Research Center
    Andrea Z. Warmbier

  • Chief Counsel, Marshall Space Flight Center
    Pam A. Bourque

  • Chief Counsel, NASA Management Office at JPL
    James T. Mahoney

  • Chief Counsel, NASA Shared Service Center
    Ron Bald

  • Chief Counsel, NASA Stennis Space Center
    Ron Bald

Return to OGC Homepage
Categories: NASA

Vera Rubin Could Triple the Number of Known Satellite Galaxies Around the Milky Way

Universe Today - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 2:10pm

The Milky Way has more than 30 known satellite galaxies. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are the largest and most well-known; other lesser-known ones, like the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, are also on the list. Astronomers think there are many more small satellites that are difficult to detect but essential in understanding the Milky Way. The Vera Rubin Observatory should help astronomers find many more of them.

Categories: Astronomy

Carnivorous ‘Bone Collector’ Caterpillars Wear Corpses as Camouflage

Scientific American.com - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 2:00pm

Nicknamed the “bone collector,” this newly confirmed caterpillar in Hawaii secretly scrounges off a spider landlord by covering itself with dead insect body parts

Categories: Astronomy

Scientists discover super-Earth exoplanets are more common in the universe than we thought

Space.com - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 2:00pm
Super-Earths can exist in wider orbits around their parent stars than was previously believed, suggesting these Earth-like exoplanets could be more common than we thought.
Categories: Astronomy

China's Shenzhou 20 astronauts arrive at Tiangong space station (video)

Space.com - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 1:16pm
The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou 20 mission arrived at the nation's Tiangong space station today (April 24), about 6.5 hours after lifting off.
Categories: Astronomy

NASA, Boeing, Consider New Thin-Wing Aircraft Research Focus

NASA - Breaking News - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 1:05pm

2 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A Boeing-built X-66 full-span model underwent testing in the 11-Foot Transonic Unitary Plan Facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley between January and March 2025.NASA / Brandon Torres

NASA and Boeing are currently evaluating an updated approach to the agency’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project that would focus on demonstrating thin-wing technology with broad applications for multiple aircraft configurations.

Boeing’s proposed focus centers on a ground-based testbed to demonstrate the potential for long, thin-wing technology. Work on the X-66 flight demonstrator – which currently incorporates a more complex transonic truss braced wing concept that uses the same thin wing technology as well as aerodynamic, structural braces — would pause for later consideration based on the thin-wing testbed results and further truss-braced configuration studies. 

Under this proposal, all aspects of the X-66 flight demonstrator’s design, as well as hardware acquired or modified for it, would be retained while the long, thin-wing technology is being investigated with more focus. NASA and Boeing would also continue to collaborate on research into the transonic truss-braced wing concept.

The proposal is based on knowledge gained through research conducted under the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project so far.

Since NASA issued the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator award in 2023, the project has made significant progress toward its goal of informing future generations of more sustainable commercial airliners. Boeing and NASA have collaborated on wind tunnel tests, computational fluid dynamics modeling, and structural design and analysis aimed at exploring how best to approach fuel-efficient, sustainable designs.

This research has built confidence in the substantial potential energy-savings benefits that technologies investigated through the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project and other NASA research can make possible. The Boeing proposal identifies the thin-wing concept as having broad applications for potential incorporation into aircraft with and without truss braces. 

NASA and Boeing are discussing potential options for advancing these sustainable flight technologies. NASA’s ultimate goal for this sustainable aircraft research is to achieve substantial improvements for next-generation airliner efficiency, lower costs for travelers, reduced fuel costs and consumption, and increase U.S. aviation’s technological leadership. 

Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 4 min read NASA Tests Ultralight Antennas to Benefit Future National Airspace Article 2 days ago 2 min read A Fond Farewell: NASA’s C-130 Begins New Mission in California Article 6 days ago 3 min read NASA Studies Wind Effects and Aircraft Tracking with Joby Aircraft Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Missions

Sustainable Flight Demonstrator Project

Aeronautics STEM

Explore NASA’s History

Share Details Last Updated Apr 24, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactRobert Margettarobert.j.margetta@nasa.gov Related Terms
Categories: NASA

NASA, Boeing, Consider New Thin-Wing Aircraft Research Focus

NASA News - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 1:05pm

2 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A Boeing-built X-66 full-span model underwent testing in the 11-Foot Transonic Unitary Plan Facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley between January and March 2025.NASA / Brandon Torres

NASA and Boeing are currently evaluating an updated approach to the agency’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project that would focus on demonstrating thin-wing technology with broad applications for multiple aircraft configurations.

Boeing’s proposed focus centers on a ground-based testbed to demonstrate the potential for long, thin-wing technology. Work on the X-66 flight demonstrator – which currently incorporates a more complex transonic truss braced wing concept that uses the same thin wing technology as well as aerodynamic, structural braces — would pause for later consideration based on the thin-wing testbed results and further truss-braced configuration studies. 

Under this proposal, all aspects of the X-66 flight demonstrator’s design, as well as hardware acquired or modified for it, would be retained while the long, thin-wing technology is being investigated with more focus. NASA and Boeing would also continue to collaborate on research into the transonic truss-braced wing concept.

The proposal is based on knowledge gained through research conducted under the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project so far.

Since NASA issued the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator award in 2023, the project has made significant progress toward its goal of informing future generations of more sustainable commercial airliners. Boeing and NASA have collaborated on wind tunnel tests, computational fluid dynamics modeling, and structural design and analysis aimed at exploring how best to approach fuel-efficient, sustainable designs.

This research has built confidence in the substantial potential energy-savings benefits that technologies investigated through the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project and other NASA research can make possible. The Boeing proposal identifies the thin-wing concept as having broad applications for potential incorporation into aircraft with and without truss braces. 

NASA and Boeing are discussing potential options for advancing these sustainable flight technologies. NASA’s ultimate goal for this sustainable aircraft research is to achieve substantial improvements for next-generation airliner efficiency, lower costs for travelers, reduced fuel costs and consumption, and increase U.S. aviation’s technological leadership. 

Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 4 min read NASA Tests Ultralight Antennas to Benefit Future National Airspace Article 2 days ago 2 min read A Fond Farewell: NASA’s C-130 Begins New Mission in California Article 6 days ago 3 min read NASA Studies Wind Effects and Aircraft Tracking with Joby Aircraft Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Missions

Sustainable Flight Demonstrator Project

Aeronautics STEM

Explore NASA’s History

Share Details Last Updated Apr 24, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactRobert Margettarobert.j.margetta@nasa.gov Related Terms
Categories: NASA

The 1st 'Predator: Badlands' trailer looks amazing, but it's the 'Alien' universe teases that have us most excited (video)

Space.com - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 1:00pm
The first public look at Predator: Badlands has finally arrived, and it's safe to say this new entry is doubling down on the series' sci-fi worldbuilding.
Categories: Astronomy

Signs of alien life on exoplanet K2-18b may just be statistical noise

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:49pm
Last week astronomers reported hints of biological activity on a distant planet, but a re-analysis of their data suggests the claimed molecules may not be there at all
Categories: Astronomy

Signs of alien life on exoplanet K2-18b may just be statistical noise

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:49pm
Last week astronomers reported hints of biological activity on a distant planet, but a re-analysis of their data suggests the claimed molecules may not be there at all
Categories: Astronomy

NASA Tests Key Spacesuit Parts Inside This Icy Chamber

NASA - Breaking News - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:28pm

6 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) An astronaut glove designed for International Space Station spacewalks is prepped for testing in a chamber called CITADEL at NASA JPL. Conducted at temperatures as frigid as those Artemis III astronauts will see on the lunar South Pole, the testing supports next-generation spacesuit development.NASA/JPL-Caltech Engineers with NASA Johnson and the NASA Engineering and Safety Center ready an astronaut glove for insertion into the main CITADEL chamber at JPL. The team tested the glove in vacuum at minus 352 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 213 degrees Celsius).NASA/JPL-Caltech

A JPL facility built to support potential robotic spacecraft missions to frozen ocean worlds helps engineers develop safety tests for next-generation spacesuits.

When NASA astronauts return to the Moon under the Artemis campaign and eventually venture farther into the solar system, they will encounter conditions harsher than any humans have experienced before. Ensuring next-generation spacesuits protect astronauts requires new varieties of tests, and a one-of-a-kind chamber called CITADEL (Cryogenic Ice Testing, Acquisition Development, and Excavation Laboratory) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California is helping.

Built to prepare potential robotic explorers for the frosty, low-pressure conditions on ocean worlds like Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa, CITADEL also can evaluate how spacesuit gloves and boots hold up in extraordinary cold. Spearheaded by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, a glove testing campaign in CITADEL ran from October 2023 to March 2024. Boot testing, initiated by the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, took place from October 2024 to January 2025.

An astronaut boot — part of a NASA lunar spacesuit prototype, the xEMU — is readied for testing in JPL’s CITADEL. A thick aluminum plate stands in for the cold surface of the lunar South Pole, where Artemis III astronauts will confront conditions more extreme than any humans have yet experienced.NASA/JPL-Caltech

In coming months, the team will adapt CITADEL to test spacesuit elbow joints to evaluate suit fabrics for longevity on the Moon. They’ll incorporate abrasion testing and introduce a simulant for lunar regolith, the loose material that makes up the Moon’s surface, into the chamber for the first time.

“We’ve built space robots at JPL that have gone across the solar system and beyond,” said Danny Green, a mechanical engineer who led the boot testing for JPL. “It’s pretty special to also use our facilities in support of returning astronauts to the Moon.”

Astronauts on the Artemis III mission will explore the Moon’s South Pole, a region of much greater extremes than the equatorial landing sites visited by Apollo-era missions. They’ll spend up to two hours at a time inside craters that may contain ice deposits potentially important to sustaining long-term human presence on the Moon. Called permanently shadowed regions, these intriguing features rank among the coldest locations in the solar system, reaching as low as minus 414 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 248 degrees Celsius). The CITADEL chamber gets close to those temperatures.

Engineers from JPL and NASA Johnson set up a test of the xEMU boot inside CITADEL. Built to prepare potential robotic explorers for conditions on ocean worlds like Jupiter’s moon Europa, the chamber offers unique capabilities that have made it useful for testing spacesuit parts.NASA/JPL-Caltech

“We want to understand what the risk is to astronauts going into permanently shadowed regions, and gloves and boots are key because they make prolonged contact with cold surfaces and tools,” said Zach Fester, an engineer with the Advanced Suit Team at NASA Johnson and the technical lead for the boot testing.

Keeping Cool

Housed in the same building as JPL’s historic 10-Foot Space Simulator, the CITADEL chamber uses compressed helium to get as low as minus 370 F (minus 223 C) — lower than most cryogenic facilities, which largely rely on liquid nitrogen. At 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall and 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter, the chamber is big enough for a person to climb inside.

An engineer collects simulated lunar samples while wearing the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit during testing at NASA Johnson in late 2023. Recent testing of existing NASA spacesuit designs in JPL’s CITADEL chamber will ultimately support development of next-generation suits being built by Axiom Space.Axiom Space

More important, it features four load locks, drawer-like chambers through which test materials are inserted into the main chamber while maintaining a chilled vacuum state. The chamber can take several days to reach test conditions, and opening it to insert new test materials starts the process all over again. The load locks allowed engineers to make quick adjustments during boot and glove tests.

Cryocoolers chill the chamber, and aluminum blocks inside can simulate tools astronauts might grab or the cold lunar surface on which they’d walk. The chamber also features a robotic arm to interact with test materials, plus multiple visible-light and infrared cameras to record operations.

Testing Extremities

The gloves tested in the chamber are the sixth version of a glove NASA began using in the 1980s, part of a spacesuit design called the Extravehicular Mobility Unit. Optimized for spacewalks at the International Space Station, the suit is so intricate it’s essentially a personal spacecraft. Testing in CITADEL at minus 352 F (minus 213 C) showed the legacy glove would not meet thermal requirements in the more challenging environment of the lunar South Pole. Results haven’t yet been fully analyzed from boot testing, which used a lunar surface suit prototype called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit. NASA’s reference design of an advanced suit architecture, this spacesuit features enhanced fit, mobility, and safety.

In addition to spotting vulnerabilities with existing suits, the CITADEL experiments will help NASA prepare criteria for standardized, repeatable, and inexpensive test methods for the next-generation lunar suit being built by Axiom Space — the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit, which NASA astronauts will wear during the Artemis III mission.

“This test is looking to identify what the limits are: How long can that glove or boot be in that lunar environment?” said Shane McFarland, technology development lead for the Advanced Suit Team at NASA Johnson. “We want to quantify what our capability gap is for the current hardware so we can give that information to the Artemis suit vendor, and we also want to develop this unique test capability to assess future hardware designs.”

In the past, astronauts themselves have been part of thermal testing. For gloves, an astronaut inserted a gloved hand into a chilled “glove box,” grabbed a frigid object, and held it until their skin temperature dropped as low as 50 F (10 C). McFarland stressed that such human-in-the-loop testing remains essential to ensuring future spacesuit safety but doesn’t produce the consistent data the team is looking for with the CITADEL testing.

To obtain objective feedback, the CITADEL testing team used a custom-built manikin hand and foot. A system of fluid loops mimicked the flow of warm blood through the appendages, while dozens of temperature and heat flux sensors provided data from inside gloves and boots.

“By using CITADEL and modern manikin technology, we can test design iterations faster and at much lower cost than traditional human-in-the-loop testing,” said Morgan Abney, NASA technical fellow for Environmental Control and Life Support, who conceived the glove testing effort. “Now we can really push the envelope on next-generation suit designs and have confidence we understand the risks. We’re one step closer to landing astronauts back on the Moon.”

Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Houston, We Have a Podcast: next-generation spacesuits Why NASA’s Perseverance rover carries spacesuit materials News Media Contact

Melissa Pamer
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-314-4928
melissa.pamer@jpl.nasa.gov

2025-060

Share Details Last Updated Apr 24, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 3 min read NASA Tracks Snowmelt to Improve Water Management Article 2 hours ago 4 min read NASA Marshall Fires Up Hybrid Rocket Motor to Prep for Moon Landings Article 2 hours ago 3 min read NASA’s Curiosity Rover May Have Solved Mars’ Missing Carbonate Mystery Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics

Missions

Humans in Space

Climate Change

Solar System

Categories: NASA

NASA Tests Key Spacesuit Parts Inside This Icy Chamber

NASA News - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:28pm

6 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) An astronaut glove designed for International Space Station spacewalks is prepped for testing in a chamber called CITADEL at NASA JPL. Conducted at temperatures as frigid as those Artemis III astronauts will see on the lunar South Pole, the testing supports next-generation spacesuit development.NASA/JPL-Caltech Engineers with NASA Johnson and the NASA Engineering and Safety Center ready an astronaut glove for insertion into the main CITADEL chamber at JPL. The team tested the glove in vacuum at minus 352 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 213 degrees Celsius).NASA/JPL-Caltech

A JPL facility built to support potential robotic spacecraft missions to frozen ocean worlds helps engineers develop safety tests for next-generation spacesuits.

When NASA astronauts return to the Moon under the Artemis campaign and eventually venture farther into the solar system, they will encounter conditions harsher than any humans have experienced before. Ensuring next-generation spacesuits protect astronauts requires new varieties of tests, and a one-of-a-kind chamber called CITADEL (Cryogenic Ice Testing, Acquisition Development, and Excavation Laboratory) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California is helping.

Built to prepare potential robotic explorers for the frosty, low-pressure conditions on ocean worlds like Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa, CITADEL also can evaluate how spacesuit gloves and boots hold up in extraordinary cold. Spearheaded by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, a glove testing campaign in CITADEL ran from October 2023 to March 2024. Boot testing, initiated by the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, took place from October 2024 to January 2025.

An astronaut boot — part of a NASA lunar spacesuit prototype, the xEMU — is readied for testing in JPL’s CITADEL. A thick aluminum plate stands in for the cold surface of the lunar South Pole, where Artemis III astronauts will confront conditions more extreme than any humans have yet experienced.NASA/JPL-Caltech

In coming months, the team will adapt CITADEL to test spacesuit elbow joints to evaluate suit fabrics for longevity on the Moon. They’ll incorporate abrasion testing and introduce a simulant for lunar regolith, the loose material that makes up the Moon’s surface, into the chamber for the first time.

“We’ve built space robots at JPL that have gone across the solar system and beyond,” said Danny Green, a mechanical engineer who led the boot testing for JPL. “It’s pretty special to also use our facilities in support of returning astronauts to the Moon.”

Astronauts on the Artemis III mission will explore the Moon’s South Pole, a region of much greater extremes than the equatorial landing sites visited by Apollo-era missions. They’ll spend up to two hours at a time inside craters that may contain ice deposits potentially important to sustaining long-term human presence on the Moon. Called permanently shadowed regions, these intriguing features rank among the coldest locations in the solar system, reaching as low as minus 414 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 248 degrees Celsius). The CITADEL chamber gets close to those temperatures.

Engineers from JPL and NASA Johnson set up a test of the xEMU boot inside CITADEL. Built to prepare potential robotic explorers for conditions on ocean worlds like Jupiter’s moon Europa, the chamber offers unique capabilities that have made it useful for testing spacesuit parts.NASA/JPL-Caltech

“We want to understand what the risk is to astronauts going into permanently shadowed regions, and gloves and boots are key because they make prolonged contact with cold surfaces and tools,” said Zach Fester, an engineer with the Advanced Suit Team at NASA Johnson and the technical lead for the boot testing.

Keeping Cool

Housed in the same building as JPL’s historic 10-Foot Space Simulator, the CITADEL chamber uses compressed helium to get as low as minus 370 F (minus 223 C) — lower than most cryogenic facilities, which largely rely on liquid nitrogen. At 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall and 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter, the chamber is big enough for a person to climb inside.

An engineer collects simulated lunar samples while wearing the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit during testing at NASA Johnson in late 2023. Recent testing of existing NASA spacesuit designs in JPL’s CITADEL chamber will ultimately support development of next-generation suits being built by Axiom Space.Axiom Space

More important, it features four load locks, drawer-like chambers through which test materials are inserted into the main chamber while maintaining a chilled vacuum state. The chamber can take several days to reach test conditions, and opening it to insert new test materials starts the process all over again. The load locks allowed engineers to make quick adjustments during boot and glove tests.

Cryocoolers chill the chamber, and aluminum blocks inside can simulate tools astronauts might grab or the cold lunar surface on which they’d walk. The chamber also features a robotic arm to interact with test materials, plus multiple visible-light and infrared cameras to record operations.

Testing Extremities

The gloves tested in the chamber are the sixth version of a glove NASA began using in the 1980s, part of a spacesuit design called the Extravehicular Mobility Unit. Optimized for spacewalks at the International Space Station, the suit is so intricate it’s essentially a personal spacecraft. Testing in CITADEL at minus 352 F (minus 213 C) showed the legacy glove would not meet thermal requirements in the more challenging environment of the lunar South Pole. Results haven’t yet been fully analyzed from boot testing, which used a lunar surface suit prototype called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit. NASA’s reference design of an advanced suit architecture, this spacesuit features enhanced fit, mobility, and safety.

In addition to spotting vulnerabilities with existing suits, the CITADEL experiments will help NASA prepare criteria for standardized, repeatable, and inexpensive test methods for the next-generation lunar suit being built by Axiom Space — the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit, which NASA astronauts will wear during the Artemis III mission.

“This test is looking to identify what the limits are: How long can that glove or boot be in that lunar environment?” said Shane McFarland, technology development lead for the Advanced Suit Team at NASA Johnson. “We want to quantify what our capability gap is for the current hardware so we can give that information to the Artemis suit vendor, and we also want to develop this unique test capability to assess future hardware designs.”

In the past, astronauts themselves have been part of thermal testing. For gloves, an astronaut inserted a gloved hand into a chilled “glove box,” grabbed a frigid object, and held it until their skin temperature dropped as low as 50 F (10 C). McFarland stressed that such human-in-the-loop testing remains essential to ensuring future spacesuit safety but doesn’t produce the consistent data the team is looking for with the CITADEL testing.

To obtain objective feedback, the CITADEL testing team used a custom-built manikin hand and foot. A system of fluid loops mimicked the flow of warm blood through the appendages, while dozens of temperature and heat flux sensors provided data from inside gloves and boots.

“By using CITADEL and modern manikin technology, we can test design iterations faster and at much lower cost than traditional human-in-the-loop testing,” said Morgan Abney, NASA technical fellow for Environmental Control and Life Support, who conceived the glove testing effort. “Now we can really push the envelope on next-generation suit designs and have confidence we understand the risks. We’re one step closer to landing astronauts back on the Moon.”

Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Houston, We Have a Podcast: next-generation spacesuits Why NASA’s Perseverance rover carries spacesuit materials News Media Contact

Melissa Pamer
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-314-4928
melissa.pamer@jpl.nasa.gov

2025-060

Share Details Last Updated Apr 24, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 3 min read NASA Tracks Snowmelt to Improve Water Management Article 2 hours ago 4 min read NASA Marshall Fires Up Hybrid Rocket Motor to Prep for Moon Landings Article 3 hours ago 3 min read NASA’s Curiosity Rover May Have Solved Mars’ Missing Carbonate Mystery Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics

Missions

Humans in Space

Climate Change

Solar System

Categories: NASA

Worst Coral Mass Bleaching on Record Caused By Warming Oceans

Scientific American.com - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:23pm

The world is experiencing the most intense global coral bleaching event on record, with 84 percent of reefs experiencing heat stress from warming oceans

Categories: Astronomy

James Webb Space Telescope finds a wild black hole growth spurt in galaxies at 'cosmic noon'

Space.com - Thu, 04/24/2025 - 12:08pm
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have peered into galaxies that existed at cosmic noon to hunt ravenously feeding black holes and bursts of starbirth.
Categories: Astronomy