Need to Try a Space Suit? Go to Iceland


How are you? planning a trip to the moon or to Mars? You can’t exercise to get a place, so you have to find something really good. And there is nothing better than our own part of the world here on Earth: Iceland.

Well-used by Apollo astronomers in the 1960s to prepare for their lunar eclipses, Iceland’s unique geography and distance make it an ideal place to experiment with international travel. “You have ice underground. You have lava tubes. You have areas where volcanic eruptions, “said Daniel Leeb, chief executive of the Iceland Space Agency (ISA), an independent research organization independent of the Icelandic government.” earth. “

In 2019, researchers with ISA used this to work on a mission to Mars. The students wore a space suit called Mars Suit 1 (MS1), designed by the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and did things that future astronomers would encounter on Red Planet. The dress gave an impression of another country, with great footing on the terra firma.

Three “Astronauts” – a term for world events – spend three hours at a time wearing MS1.5 for three days in Iceland.Photo: Vincent Fournier

Now researchers are back in Iceland with a modified version of the suit, called MS1.5, for better display. This time the aim of the study, developed by ISA in partnership with business venture company AdventureX, was to test some of the suit equipment with NASA’s Artemis program, which is expected to send people to the moon over the course of the decade.

Activities included ascending and exiting the lava tubes and collecting samples from the walls, such as bacteria, which could be a major part of the lunar journey. The upgraded suit also tested the new carbon dioxide sensors and biometric underwear that recorded more from astronomers, including heart rate and respiration. Some issues arose; visor experienced condensation from temperature fluctuations, for example, which could be significantly increased per month.

Exploration missions focus on groundwater ice and look at lava tubes, shapes and phenomena that may be part of the future operations of the Moon and Mars.Photo: Vincent Fournier



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