NASA’s Artemis mission is planning to bring people to the Moon again for the first time in over 50 years. Naturally, there are many challenges that need to be overcome.
One issue that previous astronauts faced while walking on the Moon was adjusting to the reduced gravity. According to one study, astronauts who walked on the moon during the Apollo missions fell, or almost fell, nearly 50 times during their missions.
Falling on the moon isn’t life-threatening, but it can be a real struggle to get back up. This is because the astronauts are in a suit that is quite confining, and the life support equipment on their back can make things very awkward.
To help solve this problem, MIT mechanical engineering professor Harry Asada is working on something called “SuperLimbs.”
SuperLimbs is a system of robotic limbs that will attach to the back of an astronaut’s spacesuit. For now, the limbs will be able to help the astronaut get back up after a fall, or stabilize them when they are stumbling. In the future, however, these limbs may be able to do much more.
Asada explained more about this in a statement, saying:
“Astronauts are physically very capable, but they can struggle on the moon, where gravity is one-sixth that of Earth’s but their inertia is still the same. Furthermore, wearing a spacesuit is a significant burden and can constrict their movements.”
Currently, the arms are operated using a joystick controller so that the astronaut can engage them when needed. In the future, it is likely that they will have the option to be controlled automatically so that they can react to movements and prevent falls.
Erik Ballesteros is an MIT researcher who is also working on this project at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. He talked about the potential of the SuperLimbs system, saying:
“My goal is to make these arms become almost like the new paradigm for astronauts. I want it to become almost like a natural extension of their bodies… so the astronaut almost feels awkward not having them.”
While it is not known yet whether this system will be ready for a trial run during the Artemis mission, there is clearly a lot of potential here. Having more arms and hands available will help the astronauts to be able to perform more tasks and stay safer while exploring the Lunar surface.
You can see this system in a demonstration on this video:
This system reminds me of Dr. Octopus from Spiderman.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.