NASA: The eerie photo for the mission to the dark side of the Moon

When its astronauts NASA visit next time Moon, will be a dark and shady mission. The space agency’s ambitions for a new trip to the moon, a mission called Artemis, aim to bring astronauts to the dark side of our satellite later this decade. The mission is expected to land at the South Pole, a place where the sun rarely rises above the lunar hills.

NASA is preparing to train future lunar explorers in these eerie conditions. This week, the Johnson Space Center released an image of NASA divers simulating what astronauts will experience at the South Pole. The training takes place at the agency’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, a huge 12-foot-deep pool designed to simulate lower gravity conditions.

Hard training in complete darkness

“As NASA prepares to send the first woman and the first black to the Moon’s South Pole as part of the Artemis project, divers at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) in Houston set the stage for future training on the Moonwalk simulating lunar lighting.” , said Megan Dean, NASA Public Affairs Specialist, via email.

The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory is often a brightly lit training area. But for this mission, they have tried hard to create dark conditions.

“This test and evaluation included turning off all the lights in the facility, installing blackout curtains on the pool walls to minimize reflections and using a powerful underwater movie lamp, to create the conditions just before the upcoming training for them. astronauts, “Dean explained. .

The soil at the bottom of the pool is intended to mimic the chalk lunar ground. It’s mostly “common pool filter sand,” according to NASA, which pool owners use to catch dirt and other particles.

When exactly could US astronauts set foot on the moon again? NASA plans ambitiously to land its crew at the South Pole in 2025.