But aesthetics are certainly part of it too, because those pictures are pretty iconic." The tread also has to be robust against wear and tear. "Traction is absolutely important – you're exposing the boot sole to a variety of surface features, so it needs good grip on harder rock and the fluffy regolith but also on harder metal surface such as vehicles, ladders and rovers. "There's definitely some functional characteristics that have to be built into it," says Zach Fester, a space suit engineer at the Nasa Johnson Space Center who has been leading the research and development on the new moonboot. The soles of these lunar shoes will not only need to give adequate grip on the surface of the Moon, but they will be as iconic and instantly recognisable as those left by the first moonwalkers. They will need to protect the astronauts for extended periods in temperatures as low as -225 (-373☏), as well as keeping them steady on the heavily cratered terrain of the lunar South Pole.Īlongside incorporating innovative materials and technologies into the boots, engineers are also turning their attention to the prints that will mark the surface of the Moon for millenia to come. When the four new astronauts finally land on the Moon in 2025 with the Artemis Programme, their footwear will need to perform in ways the Apollo boots never had to in order to keep their wearers comfortable and safe. Nasa and its commercial partners have spent years designing and finessing the materials for the next generation of moonboots. But what will the first footprints on the lunar surface in 50 years look like? And how different will the boots that create them be from those worn by the original Apollo astronauts? Without wind or rain to erode them away, they will remain on the surface for millions of years.Īs Nasa now prepares to send a new crop of astronauts to the Moon's South Pole, there could be another set of footprints making their indelible mark on the lunar surface. In reality, the print is just one of hundreds left by the 12 astronauts who set foot on the Moon between 19.Īnd, as far as we know, those prints are still there to this day. ![]() Now unmistakable as one of the first footprints a human has ever left on another world, it is a potent symbol of human endeavour. Bars of compacted regolith streak horizontally across, formed by the grips on the sole of astronaut Buzz Aldrin's boot. ![]() ![]() It is one of the most enduring images of the Apollo space era – a lone, shallow lozenge pressed into the grey, dusty soil of the lunar surface.
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