NASA is getting ready for the Artemis era of research performed on the surface of the Moon. As part of the preparations, NASA is conducting two, multi-week field tests near Flagstaff, Arizona with astronauts, engineers, and scientists. They will practice mission scenarios for Artemis astronauts in a
Astronaut Scott Tingle takes a closer look at rock formations at Black Point Lava Flow, Arizona during a simulated spacewalk on day 5 of NASA’s Desert Research and Technology Studies in 2011. The upcoming DRATS mission is a reboot of a program that conducted analog missions from 1997-2012. Credit: NASA/Regan Geesemanis getting ready for the Artemis era of research performed on the surface of the Moon.
The heavily cratered surface of the Moon’s South Pole. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization StudioJETT3 is the first in the series of missions. It will consist of four simulated moonwalks that follow operations planned for Artemis III, the first of the Artemis missions to land astronauts on the surface of the Moon.
A flight control team led the simulated moonwalks from the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and was joined by a science team that analyzed the astronauts’ simulated moonwalks in real-time. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will join NASA for D-RATS as part of a study agreement that supports JAXA’s ability to potentially provide a pressurized rover for Artemis. JAXA astronauts and engineers will have an opportunity to experience living and working from within NASA’s prototype pressurized rover in an operational environment.
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