NASA EVA Workshop

Discussion on technical aspects of the Artemis Program

As a result of last year’s NASA Haughton-Mars Project, Ntention was attending Extravehicular Activity Exploration Workshop at Space Center Houston. The workshop brought the EVA community together to discuss, collaborate, and inform about EVA technology development efforts. Researchers, executives, engineers, and students were gathered to discover NASA’s plans for the journey to the Moon in 2024. NASA is going to the Moon with commercial and international partners to explore faster and explore more together. This work will bring new knowledge and opportunities and inspire the next generation. In going to the Moon, NASA’s Artemis Program is laying the foundation that will eventually enable human exploration of Mars.

NASA’s new spacesuit that will be worn on Artemis missions would be able to accomplish more complex tasks than their predecessors. The new spacesuit is called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or xEMU for short. In the fall of 2019, NASA released details about the planned suit for the Artemis Program.

Among other subjects, the spacesuit for the Artemis Program was discussed frequently at EVA Workshop. Both technical hardware solutions and visionary concepts were introduced by NASA-partners and private corporations.

Presenting the Astronaut Smart Glove

During the EVA Workshop 2020, Dr. Pascal Lee presented the Astronaut Smart Glove for the EVA community. Dr. Pascal Lee was the lead on the field tests on last year’s NASA Haughton-Mars Project. Interplanetary exploration will require humans to interact with a wide range of robotic systems, something that is difficult in pressurized suits. Dr. Pascal Lee discussed the field tests last summer and illustrated a promising approach to creating an ergonomic solution for EVA. Ntention received a number of positive comments and questions on the development of Astronaut Smart Glove following Lee’s presentation.