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By NASA
Humans are returning to the Moon—this time, to stay. Because our presence will be more permanent, NASA has selected a location that maximizes line-of-sight communication with Earth, solar visibility, and access to water ice: the Lunar South Pole (LSP). While the Sun is in the lunar sky more consistently at the poles, it never rises more than a few degrees above the horizon; in the target landing regions, the highest possible elevation is 7°. This presents a harsh lighting environment never experienced during the Apollo missions, or in fact, in any human spaceflight experience. The ambient lighting will severely affect the crews’ ability to see hazards and to perform simple work. This is because the human vision system, which despite having a high-dynamic range, cannot see well into bright light and cannot adapt quickly from bright to dark or vice versa. Functional vision is required to perform a variety of tasks, from simple tasks (e.g., walking, operating simple tools) through managing complex machines (e.g., lander elevator, rovers). Thus, the environment presents an engineering challenge to the Agency: one that must be widely understood before it can be effectively addressed.
In past NASA missions and programs, design of lighting and functional vision support systems for extravehicular activity (EVA) or rover operations have been managed at the lowest program level. This worked well for Apollo and low Earth orbit because the Sun angle was managed by mission planning and astronaut self-positioning; helmet design alone addressed all vision challenges. The Artemis campaign presents new challenges to functional vision, because astronauts will be unable to avoid having the sun in their eyes much of the time they are on the lunar surface. This, combined with the need for artificial lighting in the extensive shadowing at the LSP, means that new functional vision support systems must be developed across projects and programs. The design of helmets, windows, and lighting systems must work in a complementary fashion, within and across programs, to achieve a system of lighting and vision support that enables crews to see into darkness while their eyes are light-adapted, in bright light while still dark-adapted, and protects their eyes from injury.
Many of the findings of the assessment were focused on the lack of specific requirements to prevent functional vision impairment by the Sun’s brilliance (which is different from preventing eye injury), while enabling astronauts to see well enough to perform specific tasks. Specifically, tasks expected of astronauts at the LSP were not incorporated into system design requirements to enable system development that ensures functional vision in the expected lighting environment. Consequently, the spacesuit, for example, has flexibility requirements for allowing the astronauts to walk but not for ensuring they can see well enough to walk from brilliant Sun into a dark shadow and back without the risk of tripping or falling. Importantly, gaps were identified in allocation of requirements across programs to ensure that the role of the various programs is for each to understand functional vision. NESC recommendations were offered that made enabling functional vision in the harsh lighting environment a specific and new requirement for the system designers. The recommendations also included that lighting, window, and visor designs be integrated.
The assessment team recommended that a wide variety of simulation techniques, physical and virtual, need to be developed, each with different and well-stated capabilities with respect to functional vision. Some would address the blinding effects of sunlight at the LSP (not easily achieved through virtual approaches) to evaluate performance of helmet shields and artificial lighting in the context of the environment and adaptation times. Other simulations would add terrain features to identify the threats in simple (e.g., walking, collection of samples) and complex (e.g., maintenance and operation of equipment) tasks. Since different facilities have different strengths, they also have different weaknesses. These strengths and limitations must be characterized to enable verification of technical solutions and crew training.
NESC TB 2024- discipline-focus-hfView the full article
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Christopher PestakCredit: NASA Christopher Pestak, program manager of the Glenn Engineering and Research Support (GEARS) contract at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, has received the 2025 Sustained Service Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). This award recognizes AIAA members who have given their time, dedication, and efforts in service to AIAA, the aerospace community, and the engineering profession.
Pestak oversees and coordinates the efforts of 350 contractor employees performing a wide range of scientific, engineering, and technical support work for NASA Glenn on the GEARS contract. He joined NASA in 1983 as an engineering contractor supporting the Atlas/Centaur and Shuttle/Centaur projects.
A Fellow of AIAA, Pestak serves as the deputy director for Educational Programs in AIAA Region III, which encompasses Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Illinois. He will be recognized for his service during an AIAA awards ceremony in January.
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By European Space Agency
Image: Fit for service: Themis reusable rocket stage demonstrator View the full article
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By NASA
NASA/Joel Kowsky On Dec. 4, 2024, NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara, left, and Jasmin Moghbeli spent a moment in part of the Earth Information Center, an immersive experience combining live NASA data sets with innovative data visualization and storytelling at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
O’Hara and Moghbeli spent six months in space as part of Expedition 70 aboard the International Space Station. On Nov. 1, 2023, they performed a spacewalk together that lasted 6 hours and 42 minutes.
Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
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