​Dark Mode Activated!

As NASA prepares to send astronauts to the Moon’s South Pole under Artemis, divers at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) in Houston are setting the stage for future moonwalk training by simulating lunar lighting conditions. At the Moon’s South Pole, the Sun will remain no more than a few degrees above the horizon, resulting in extremely long and dark shadows. To prepare astronauts for these challenging lighting conditions, the team at the NBL has begun preliminary evaluations of lunar lighting solutions at the bottom of the 40-foot deep pool. This testing and evaluation involved turning off all the lights in the facility, installing black curtains on the pool walls to minimize reflections, and using a powerful underwater cinematic lamp, to get the conditions just right ahead of upcoming training for astronauts. Image Credit: NASA/Lauren Maples