Tricorder Tech: Artemis Augmented Reality Away Team Field Test
Editor’s note: Right now NASA is planning the spacesuit and sensor technology needed for astronauts to operate during prolonged AwayTeam sorties to study astrogeology on the lunar surface. While the suits to be used during Artemis on the Moon will be tailored to the lunar environment, they will serve as testbeds for the more advanced technology that will be needed on Mars – and eventually other worlds. When we start to send humans to Mars, spacesuits will need to be tailored to that world. Based on lunar experience these suits also be augmented with access to all of the sensors and sample collection technologies required to search for evidence of past – and perhaps extant – life – and do so while observing planetary protection protocols. The complexity of future surface activities – and the immense distance of crews from Earth – will require much more data collection and presentation so as to allow the survey crews to make decisions in the field and adjust their activities based on what they find.
NASA astronaut Andre Douglas wears AR (Augmented Reality) display technology during an advanced technology run in the San Francisco Volcanic Field in Northern Arizona on May 21, 2024.
The monocular lens consists of a pico-projector and waveguide optical element to focus an image for crew to see their real world overlaid with digital information.
These unique near-eye form factors may be used to improve the usability and minimally impact the complex biomechanics of working in a pressurized suit environment.
Astrobiology
