NASA astronauts Stan Love and Steve Bowen went underwater to test modified spacesuits that will be used for an asteroid capture mission in the 2020s.
The space agency has been searching for an asteroid that they can capture and redirect to a stable orbit of the moon. After the capture, the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket carrying a crew of astronauts plans to deploy the group to collect samples, which will be studied in preparation to send humans to Mars 2030s.
The two astronauts wore specially modified spacesuits as they plunged underwater on May 9 at the 40-feet deep swimming pool in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The depth of the pool mimics the lack of gravity for spacewalk missions.
"We're working on the techniques and tools we might use someday to explore a small asteroid captured from an orbit around the sun and brought back by a robotic spacecraft to orbit around the moon," Love said in a press release. "When it's there, we can send people there to take samples and take a look at it up close. That's our main task; we're looking at tools we'd use for that, how we'd take those samples."
The spacesuits being tested were a modified version of the orange Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES). NASA plans to develop a spacesuit that can be worn during launch and entry, instead of having two separate suits which can occupy additional space in the Orion. The underwater test proved that ACES still needs to be modified.
"We need some significant modifications to make it easy to translate," Bowen said in a press release. "I can't stretch my arms out quite as far as in the [space station space suit]. The work envelop is very small. So as we get through, we look at these tasks. These tasks are outstanding to help us develop what needs to be modified in the suit, as well."
