NASA official “very confident” Artemis spacesuits will be ready on time

Enlarge / NASA will need new spacesuits for the Artemis Program. Shown here is Buzz Aldrin, during Apollo 11. (credit: NASA)

With the successful conclusion of the Artemis I mission, NASA has taken a big step toward returning humans to the Moon. But a big rocket and a deep-space capable capsule are only the beginning of the new technologies needed for lunar surface operations.

Most notably, there's the lander. Much attention has been given to this component of the program, especially after NASA selected SpaceX's large Starship vehicle to fulfill that role in April 2021. Starship will rendezvous with the Orion spacecraft in lunar orbit and ferry astronauts down to and up from the Moon. With Orion and the Space Launch System rocket having completed a critical flight test, Starship is now on the clock as NASA works toward a lunar landing later this decade.

But just as astronauts cannot go down to the Moon without Starship, they also cannot go outside on the lunar surface without new spacesuits.

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