The Scene
NASA unveiled a new spacesuit on Wednesday, that astronauts will wear when heading for the moon’s South Pole as part of the agency’s Artemis III mission.
A prototype of the suit, designed by third-party agency Axiom Space, was revealed at Space Center Houston in Texas. The suit, officially called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), features new, state-of-the-art technology and increased mobility.
Though the prototype is a dark gray, NASA clarified that the final product will likely be all-white, in order to keep astronauts cool.
The suit is being designed to fit a range of crew members, including women, as NASA intends to send the first woman to the moon as part of the Artemis III launch in 2025.
These “next generation spacesuits will not only enable the first woman to walk on the Moon, but they will also open opportunities for more people to explore and conduct science on the Moon than ever before,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
