In uncharted areas of the lunar surface near the South Pole, where it can get much colder at night than even icy Mars, NASA and its allies will visit the Moon when it returns with Artemis.

As per NASA TV current spacecraft would struggle in such surface conditions because they must use energy-intensive heaters to stay warm.

A solution that would allow exploration during the darkness of lunar night, a time that lasts for nearly 14 Earth days, may be provided by a technology demonstration being developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

The project is known as Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm, and it recently undergone testing at JPL (COLDArm). It brings together a number of new technologies to provide a robotic arm system that can work in as little as -280 degrees!

“Going to the Moon, we need to be able to operate during colder temperatures, particularly during lunar night, without the use of heaters,” said project principal investigator Ryan McCormick. “COLDArm would let missions continue working and conducting science even in extreme cryogenic environments.”