NASA Needs to Build Gloves and Boots That Can Withstand Frigid Moon Temperatures

NASA’s upcoming missions to the Moon are set to be a lot more chilly than the Apollo program, and the agency is working to figure out how to keep its astronauts snug when visiting the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar south pole. A team of NASA engineers is preparing to test elbow joints in a large cryogenic chamber to evaluate the fabric of the next-generation spacesuits designed to be worn by astronauts on the Moon. The Cryogenic Ice Testing, Acquisition Development, and Excavation Laboratory, or CITADEL for short, was built to test robot parts for non-crewed missions launching to places like the icy moons of the solar system. CITADEL is now being used for humanity’s long-anticipated return to the Moon. “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,” Zach Fester, an engineer with the Advanced Suit Team at NASA Johnson and the technic ... Read full article.