Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), is seen during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), is seen during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

A ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) is seen Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, left, gives a thumbs up as Amy Ross, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, center, high fives Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), after a demonstration of the suits enhanced mobility, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, left, and Amy Ross, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, left, are seen with Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, left, and Amy Ross, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, left, are seen with Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, left, and Amy Ross, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, left, are seen with Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Amy Ross, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, is seen with Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, left, high fives Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is seen with Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Associate Administrator for the Office of Communications Bettina Inclán moderates a panel discussion with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, and Chris Hansen, Manager of the Extravehicular Activity office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center during the Artemis Generation Spacesuit event, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. The Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) suit is designed for a custom fit and incorporates safety technology and mobility features that will help protect astronauts on launch day, in emergency situations, high-risk parts of missions near the Moon, and during the high-speed return to Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins answers an audience question during a panel discussion with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Chris Hansen, Manager of the Extravehicular Activity office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center during the Artemis Generation Spacesuit event, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. The Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) suit is designed for a custom fit and incorporates safety technology and mobility features that will help protect astronauts on launch day, in emergency situations, high-risk parts of missions near the Moon, and during the high-speed return to Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, left, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, and Chris Hansen, Manager of the Extravehicular Activity office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center are seen during a panel discussion at the Artemis Generation Spacesuit event, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. The Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) suit is designed for a custom fit and incorporates safety technology and mobility features that will help protect astronauts on launch day, in emergency situations, high-risk parts of missions near the Moon, and during the high-speed return to Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine delivers opening remarks at the Artemis Generations Spacesuit event, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. The Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) suit is designed for a custom fit and incorporates safety technology and mobility features that will help protect astronauts on launch day, in emergency situations, high-risk parts of missions near the Moon, and during the high-speed return to Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Chris Hansen, Manager of the Extravehicular Activity Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center answers an audience question during a panel discussion with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins during the Artemis Generation Spacesuit event, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. The Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) suit is designed for a custom fit and incorporates safety technology and mobility features that will help protect astronauts on launch day, in emergency situations, high-risk parts of missions near the Moon, and during the high-speed return to Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Associate Administrator for the Office of Communications Bettina Inclán moderates a panel discussion with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, and Chris Hansen, Manager of the Extravehicular Activity office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center during the Artemis Generation Spacesuit event, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. The Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) suit is designed for a custom fit and incorporates safety technology and mobility features that will help protect astronauts on launch day, in emergency situations, high-risk parts of missions near the Moon, and during the high-speed return to Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Amy Ross, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, left, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, second from left, watch as Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), and Dustin Gohmert, Orion Crew Survival Systems Project Manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing the Orion Crew Survival System suit, right, wave after being introduced by the administrator, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. The Orion suit is designed for a custom fit and incorporates safety technology and mobility features that will help protect astronauts on launch day, in emergency situations, high-risk parts of missions near the Moon, and during the high-speed return to Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

jsc2021e022487 (June 11, 2021) --- NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit undergoes antenna testing in NASA Johnson Space Center’s anechoic chamber to inspect multi-layer insulation keep-out zones for the Wi-Fi and ultra-high-frequency antennas that are part of the spacesuit’s communication system. The xEMU test article is named xGUS, the successor to the Extravehicular Mobility Unit test article (also named GUS), which was named after NASA astronaut Gus Grissom and his iconic silver spacesuit. This image was taken from where the "horn," or source antenna, is located that sends out radio frequency signals to the spacesuit. The anechoic chamber walls are covered with a material that absorbs electromagnetic energy allowing the anechoic chamber to simulate a space environment. The antenna test facility is utilized to test antenna radiation distribution pattern performance for spaceflight applications in electromagnetic environments.

jsc2021e022515 (June 11, 2021) --- NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit undergoes antenna testing in NASA Johnson Space Center’s anechoic chamber to inspect multi-layer insulation keep-out zones for the Wi-Fi and ultra-high-frequency antennas that are part of the spacesuit’s communication system. The xEMU test article is named xGUS, the successor to the Extravehicular Mobility Unit test article (also named GUS), which was named after NASA astronaut Gus Grissom and his iconic silver spacesuit. This image was taken from where the "horn," or source antenna, is located that sends out radio frequency signals to the spacesuit. The anechoic chamber walls are covered with a material that absorbs electromagnetic energy allowing the anechoic chamber to simulate a space environment. The antenna test facility is utilized to test antenna radiation distribution pattern performance for spaceflight applications in electromagnetic environments. Pictured in the photo is antenna test engineer Will Bond.

jsc2021e022488 (June 11, 2021) --- NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit undergoes antenna testing in NASA Johnson Space Center’s anechoic chamber to inspect multi-layer insulation keep-out zones for the Wi-Fi and ultra-high-frequency antennas that are part of the spacesuit’s communication system. The xEMU test article is named xGUS, the successor to the Extravehicular Mobility Unit test article (also named GUS), which was named after NASA astronaut Gus Grissom and his iconic silver spacesuit. This image was taken from where the "horn," or source antenna, is located that sends out radio frequency signals to the spacesuit. The anechoic chamber walls are covered with a material that absorbs electromagnetic energy allowing the anechoic chamber to simulate a space environment. The antenna test facility is utilized to test antenna radiation distribution pattern performance for spaceflight applications in electromagnetic environments. Pictured in the photo is antenna test engineer Will Bond.

Robotics technologist Brendan Chamberlain-Simon, left, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and spacesuit engineer Zach Fester of the agency's Johnson Space Center adjust a thermal vacuum chamber called CITADEL at JPL on Nov. 12, 2024, before testing an astronaut boot inside the chamber. Built to prepare potential robotic explorers for the frosty, low-pressure conditions on ocean worlds like Jupiter's frozen moon Europa, CITADEL (Cryogenic Ice Testing, Acquisition Development, and Excavation Laboratory) has also proven key to evaluating how astronaut gloves and boots hold up in extraordinary cold. It can reach temperatures as low as low as minus 370 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 223 degrees Celsius), approximating extreme conditions Artemis III astronauts will confront in permanently shadowed regions of the lunar South Pole. The boot testing was initiated by the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program at NASA Johnson and took place from October 2024 to January 2025. The boot is part of a NASA spacesuit called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or xEMU. Test results haven't yet been fully analyzed. In addition to spotting vulnerabilities with existing suits, the experiments are intended to help NASA develop this unique test capability and prepare criteria for standardized, repeatable, and inexpensive test methods for the next-generation lunar suit being built by Axiom Space. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26593

A boot that's part of a NASA lunar surface spacesuit prototype is readied for testing inside a thermal vacuum chamber called CITADEL at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Nov. 8, 2024. The thick aluminum plate at right stands in for the frigid surface of the lunar South Pole, where Artemis III astronauts will confront conditions more extreme than any previously experienced by humans. Built to prepare potential future robotic spacecraft for the frosty, low-pressure conditions on ocean worlds like Jupiter's frozen moon Europa, CITADEL (Cryogenic Ice Testing, Acquisition Development, and Excavation Laboratory) has also proven key to evaluating how astronaut gloves and boots hold up in extraordinary cold. It can reach temperatures as low as low as minus 370 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 223 degrees Celsius), approximating conditions in permanently shadowed regions that astronauts will explore. Figure A, showing the outer boot sole, was taken from inside CITADEL on Nov. 13, 2024. The boot is positioned in a load lock, one of four small drawer-like chambers through which test materials are inserted into the larger chamber. Initiated by the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center, the boot testing took place from October 2024 to January 2025. The boot is part of a NASA spacesuit called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or xEMU. Results haven't yet been fully analyzed. In addition to spotting vulnerabilities with existing suits, the experiments are intended to help NASA develop this unique test capability and prepare criteria for standardized, repeatable, and inexpensive test methods for the next-generation lunar suit being built by Axiom Space. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26592