This story initially appeared on WIRED Italia and has been translated from Italian.
“We are witnessing the beginning of a new Era, as the Internet was in the 1980s. Today, access to space is still something for the few, but, just as in computing, in a few years prices will come down. Everyone should indulge in the beauty of an adventure.” So mentioned Lorenzo Bertelli, chief advertising and marketing officer of Prada, right this moment on the Worldwide Astronautical Congress 2024 in Milan, Italy. Sure, that is proper, Prada on the Worldwide Astronautical Congress.
Bertelli was excitedly referencing the reveal of the style home’s collaborative design with Houston-based startup Axiom House of the spacesuit that might be used for NASA’s Artemis 3 mission to the moon deliberate for 2026—the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU).
.jpg)
“[This] is not a commercial or marketing issue,” Bertelli continued. “We will eventually think about those later, but overcoming our limits is one of the values that best reflect the spirit of Prada. It is the first step in the collaboration with Axiom Space.”
Effectively, talking of overcoming limits, and whereas Bertelli waits to ponder the long run advertising and marketing alternatives for Prada, the AxEMU is definitely an evolution of NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (or xEMU), the go well with used for actions exterior the Worldwide House Station.
Designed for better flexibility, effectivity and security, AxEMU incorporates specialised instruments for exploration of the lunar south pole, the place the temperature vary might be excessive and the regolith, skinny as talcum powder, adheres to each floor, creeping into each crevice.
The go well with is ready to tolerate the intense temperatures of the lunar south pole and the cruel local weather of completely shaded areas for a minimum of two hours, and may deal with a minimum of eight hours of extravehicular actions.
