NASA unveils spacesuits to be worn by first woman, next man to land on the moon

It's fashion week for NASA.
Tuesday afternoon, the space agency revealed two new spacesuits to be worn by astronauts during Artemis missions, with the goal of landing the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024.
The full suit, named xEMU, is designed for use on the surface of the moon, and features red, white, and blue elements. The main goal for the design was to increase mobility and flexibility, enabling astronauts to move and pick up objects, like lunar rocks, with ease, reports TechCrunch. This marks a major improvement from the suits worn in the Apollo mission, which required astronauts to "bunny-hop".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The suit can also withstand temperatures ranging from -250 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, per NASA. It features interchangable parts, allowing the suit to be worn on the International Space Station, in lunar orbit, on the moon, or on Mars, and can be upgraded to "keep crew warm in the Mars winter and prevent over heating in the summer," according to NASA.
The second suit is bright orange and meant to be worn during take-off and landing, and is dubbed the "Orion Crew Survival Suit."
The new suits feature inclusive sizing, per TechCrunch. This comes after the first all-women spacewalk was canceled earlier this year for lack of a proper-sized suit. Kristine Davis, an advanced space suit engineer at NASA, said they will fit men and women of all sizes.
"We want every person who dreams of going into space to be able to say to themselves, that yes, they have that opportunity," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine during the unveiling. Read more at TechCrunch.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Taylor Watson is audience engagement editor for TheWeek.com and a former editorial assistant. She graduated from Syracuse University, with a major in magazine journalism and minors in food studies and nutrition. Taylor has previously written for Runner's World, Vice, and more.
-
A wine-themed tour of beautiful Uruguay
The Week Recommends Secret paradise in South America boasts beautiful vineyards
By The Week UK Published
-
Romanian democracy: no place for the 'TikTok messiah' Calin Georgescu
Talking Point State is 'fighting back' against poster boy for right-wing conspiracists
By The Week UK Published
-
5 terrifically taxing cartoons about tariffs
Cartoons Artists take on rising prices, dumb ideas, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 years
Speed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Scientists report optimal method to boil an egg
Speed Read It takes two temperatures of water to achieve and no fancy gadgets
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Europe records big leap in renewable energy
Speed Read Solar power overtook coal for the first time
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Blue Origin conducts 1st test flight of massive rocket
Speed Read The Jeff Bezos-founded space company conducted a mostly successful test flight of its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US won its war on 'murder hornets,' officials say
Speed Read The announcement comes five years after the hornets were first spotted in the US
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was right
Speed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular stories
Speed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an ocean
Speed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published