Axiom Space has recently announced that it is designing the spacesuit for mankind's return to the moon in 2026 in collaboration with Prada, fashioning the spacesuit for the first woman of color to step foot on the moon. The collaboration has gotten Instagram buzzing.
The Prada x Axiom NASA spacesuit is expected to be used in the Artemis III mission for mankind's return to the moon in 2026, the first mission since 1972. The Axiom Electrovehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) saw its flight debut earlier this month at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan.
Speaking about the suit, Matt Ondler, president of Axiom Space said,
"Our elite teams have redefined spacesuit development, establishing new pathways to innovative solutions and applying a state-of-the-art design approach for the AxEMU. We have broken the mold."
However, as is Instagram's nature, people were quick to make jokes about this collaboration, and it went something like the following:
Other users even went on to make references to the iconic Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway starrer, The Devil Wears Prada.
"Emily: are those the new…? Female astronaut: the new Axiom Prada boots? Yes, yes they are."
“Is it so difficult to find a slim and slender astronaut ? Am I asking for the stars ? - Miranda Priestly ."
"Not the devil going to space now!! 😂😂😂"
Instagram went crazy with the memes about this collaboration, but there's no denying that the collaboration is iconic in every sense.
Not everyone is pleased about the hype around the Axiom x PRADA spacesuit
While many are making jokes and hyping up the collaboration between Axiom Space and the Italian fashion giant, others are not very pleased with this hype. They have raised concerns about how the hype around the collaboration has reduced the achievement of the female astronaut to the point where she has not even been named or shown yet.
"That's stupid, way to reduce a history's moment for women to what she is f**king wearing," one user on Instagram commented.
Another user expressed, "It took us almost 60 years to send a PoC to the Moon? And we’re not even naming them? But we’re naming the brand of space suit they’ll be wearing?"
A different user commented, "Even as the first woman on the moon, she'll still be defined by what she’s wearing.."
"I kinda hate this, people already don't take female accomplishments seriously, turning them into billboards for advertising fashion is a bit tasteless," said a user.
"first woman on the moon so we HAVE to deck her out in a high end designer brand. what's her name btw?" a user said.
The AxEMU suit is nearing the final completion stage and is scheduled to enter into the critical design review stage in 2025.