This story originally 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 said Lorenzo Bertelli, chief marketing officer of Prada, today at the International Astronautical Congress 2024 in Milan, Italy. Yes, that’s right, Prada at the International Astronautical Congress.
Bertelli was excitedly referencing the reveal of the fashion house’s collaborative design with Houston-based startup Axiom Space of the spacesuit that will be used for NASA’s Artemis 3 mission to the moon planned for 2026—the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU).
“[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.”
Well, speaking of overcoming limits, and while Bertelli waits to ponder the future marketing opportunities for Prada, the AxEMU is actually an evolution of NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (or xEMU), the suit used for activities outside the International Space Station.
Designed for greater flexibility, efficiency and safety, AxEMU incorporates specialized tools for exploration of the lunar south pole, where the temperature range can be extreme and the regolith, thin as talcum powder, adheres to every surface, creeping into every crevice.
The suit is able to tolerate the extreme temperatures of the lunar south pole and the harsh climate of permanently shaded regions for at least two hours, and can handle at least eight hours of extravehicular activities.