Photo: NASA
The human return to the Moon possibly as soon as 2026 comes with a series of challenges never experienced in space exploration. From the new hardware that’s to be used on the Artemis III mission through the new procedures and to the brand-new landing site, everything needs to be carefully planned out and tested before the actual departure.
Ever since the Artemis program was announced years back NASA and its partners have been working around the clock to find solutions to these challenges, and for the most part they seem to have succeeded. But there is one thing that was left out until now, and might severely impact the success of a Moon mission: an astronaut becoming incapacitated.
The lunar surface is an unforgiving place. With no atmosphere to protect it, the Moon literally floats in outer space, and so will our astronauts. The ground below human feet there is covered in abrasive dust and is littered with rocks ranging in diameter from 0.15 to 20 meters (0.5 to 66 feet), and there are craters that can be as wide as 30 meters (98 feet).
On top of it all, the place comes with low gravity (a little over 16 percent that of Earth), the lighting conditions are unlike anything humans have experienced, and the temperatures range from 280 to minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit (138 to minus 173 degrees Celsius).
So, a lot of natural conditions conspiring to hurt people up there. If you add to that a potential medical emergency or an accident on site, you're left with a pretty daunting picture. Especially considering how there will only be two astronauts on the Moon during Artemis III, thus only one human there to help their colleague if something goes wrong.
With a little over two years left until the launch of the first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon, NASA announced the launch of a challenge meant to address the problem of a possible emergency evacuation of an injured or otherwise incapacitated astronaut.
The challenge targets evacuation during extravehicular activities (EVAs), and calls for a solution that doesn’t need to rely on a lunar rover, but will allow the incapacitated human to be transported to the relative safety of the human landing system (HLS).
A piece of technology that could allow one astronaut to move up to 755 pounds (343 kg, the weight of a fully-suited astronaut) for distances of up to two km (1.2 miles), and up 20 degrees slopes.
It's not clear exactly what kind of solution NASA is looking for, as imagining it is left to the interested parties. Whatever form it will take, however, it will probably be something truly spectacular.
The challenge, officially called South Pole Safety: Designing the NASA Lunar Rescue System, opened on November 14, 2024, and will close on January 23. NASA gives out a total of $45,000 in total prizes for those taking part.
The lunar surface is an unforgiving place. With no atmosphere to protect it, the Moon literally floats in outer space, and so will our astronauts. The ground below human feet there is covered in abrasive dust and is littered with rocks ranging in diameter from 0.15 to 20 meters (0.5 to 66 feet), and there are craters that can be as wide as 30 meters (98 feet).
On top of it all, the place comes with low gravity (a little over 16 percent that of Earth), the lighting conditions are unlike anything humans have experienced, and the temperatures range from 280 to minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit (138 to minus 173 degrees Celsius).
So, a lot of natural conditions conspiring to hurt people up there. If you add to that a potential medical emergency or an accident on site, you're left with a pretty daunting picture. Especially considering how there will only be two astronauts on the Moon during Artemis III, thus only one human there to help their colleague if something goes wrong.
With a little over two years left until the launch of the first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon, NASA announced the launch of a challenge meant to address the problem of a possible emergency evacuation of an injured or otherwise incapacitated astronaut.
The challenge targets evacuation during extravehicular activities (EVAs), and calls for a solution that doesn’t need to rely on a lunar rover, but will allow the incapacitated human to be transported to the relative safety of the human landing system (HLS).
A piece of technology that could allow one astronaut to move up to 755 pounds (343 kg, the weight of a fully-suited astronaut) for distances of up to two km (1.2 miles), and up 20 degrees slopes.
It's not clear exactly what kind of solution NASA is looking for, as imagining it is left to the interested parties. Whatever form it will take, however, it will probably be something truly spectacular.
The challenge, officially called South Pole Safety: Designing the NASA Lunar Rescue System, opened on November 14, 2024, and will close on January 23. NASA gives out a total of $45,000 in total prizes for those taking part.
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