To the Moon and back: On Artemis III mission, Nasa astronauts to wear Prada

Artemis III: As the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in December 1972, the mission will also be the first to place a woman on the Moon

National Space and Aeronautics Administration (Nasa)'s Artemis III mission, which will take humans to the Southern pole of the Moon for the first time, is set to be launched in 2025. Last week, Italian luxury fashion brand Prada announced that it will design spacesuits for the mission with Texas-based Axiom Space.

In a joint statement, the two companies said, "Prada's engineers will work alongside the Axiom Space systems team throughout the design process, developing solutions for materials and design features to protect against the unique challenge of space and the lunar environment."

As the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in December 1972, the Artemis III mission will also be the first to place a woman on the Moon.

The statement added that the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit will provide astronauts with advanced capabilities for space exploration while offering Nasa commercially developed human systems needed to access, live and work on and around the Moon.

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"Evolving NASA's Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit design, the Axiom Space spacesuits are created to provide increased flexibility, greater protection to withstand the harsh environment, and specialized tools for exploration and scientific opportunities. Using innovative technologies and design, these spacesuits will enable greater exploration of the lunar surface than ever before," the companies said.

"It is a true celebration of the power of human creativity and innovation to advance civilisation," said Lorenzo Bertelli, marketing director of the Prada Group.

Axiom Space is a provider of human spaceflight services and a developer of human-rated space infrastructure.

"We are thrilled to partner with Prada on the Axiom extravehicular mobility unit (AxEMU) spacesuit," said Michael Suffredini, chief executive officer of Axiom Space.

"Prada's technical expertise with raw materials, manufacturing techniques and innovative design concepts will bring advanced technologies instrumental in ensuring not only the comfort of astronauts on the lunar surface but also the much-needed human factors considerations absent from legacy spacesuits."

Nasa has selected SpaceX to provide the human landing system that will transport Artemis III astronauts from Orion in lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back again.