"There are, of course, no cows on the Moon." Moon Walkers In September 2026, NASA is hoping to land the first astronauts on the surface of the Moon in over 50 years as part of its Artemis III mission, a highly ambitious endeavor that will require the space agency to move a figurative mountain of contractors and logistics. Needless to say, preparations are long underway.
Recently, for instance, NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Andre Douglas simulated several "moonwalks" in the northern Arizona desert, leading to a series of inspiring and admittedly amusing photos released by the space agency this week. Amusingly, NASA photos even show the duo encountering a cow. Close EnCOWnters Instead of donning their entire, pressurized spacesuits — just getting them on will likely be a highly complex maneuver — the pair wore equipment-laden backpacks and mockups of their movement-restricting spacesuits that weighed 70 pounds, making for a highly unusual photo op.
Traditionally, spacesuits used during NASA's Apollo missions have proven to be extremely difficult to move in, making grasping and kneeling down infamously awkward , particularly in the greatly reduced gravity of the Moon. Teams even went as far as to simulate sunset and sunrise while roaming the lunar surface using an extremely bright spotlight. On the Moon's southern pole, the Sun "moves across the horizon, skimming the surface like a flashlight lying on a table," as NASA explains.
"Night simulations show us how tough it is f.
