NASA unveils new spacesuits for the moon

NASA is unveiling a new spacesuit created by the Texas-based company Axiom Space with plans for astronauts to use them as they explore near the lunar South Pole with the Artemis III mission.

The agency showed off the suit prototype Wednesday during an event at Space Center Houston in Texas. 

The sleek black suit will allow for a better range of motion than the original Apollo suits, NASA said, but the final version will likely need to be all-white to help keep the astronauts cool while on the moon's surface.

"Building on NASA’s years of research and expertise, Axiom’s 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," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, referring to how the Artemis mission will bring the first woman and person of color to the moon in preparation to an eventual mission to Mars.

The space agency also said the suit also moves "forward in the agency's goal to build a robust economy at the Moon by working with commercial service providers," such as Axiom Space.