NASA has unveiled two new spacesuits tailored for astronauts to walk on the moon as it aims to return to the lunar surface by 2024.

Two engineers wore the suits on stage at NASA's headquarters in Washington DC to reveal what the first zero-gravity outfits will look like under its Artemis moon programme.

NASA wants to land humans on the moon by 2024, with plans to colonise there as a staging ground for eventual missions to Mars.

Image: The suits are said to make it easier for astronauts to 'walk, bend and squat'

One suit made of orange fabric will be worn by astronauts when inside the spacecraft, while astronauts will wear a much bigger, mostly white, suit on the lunar surface.

NASA's lead spacesuit engineer Amy Ross said the new suits make it much easier to walk, bend and squat when walking on the moon.


"Basically, my job is to take a basketball, shape it like a human, keep them alive in a harsh environment, and give them the mobility to do their job," she said.

"This is the first suit we've designed in about 40 years," Chris Hansen, a manager at NASA's spacesuit design office, said.

Image: The suits have been made after a shortage forced an all-female spacewalk to be cancelled

"What you saw today was a prototype of the pressure garment. The life support system is back in a lab in Houston.

"We want systems that allow our astronauts to be scientists on the surface of the moon."

The new suits come as a much-needed upgrade to NASA's astronaut wardrobe.

Image: The suit is much more flexible than previous versions

Astronauts Christina Koch and Anne McClain were supposed to conduct the first ever all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station in March, but the mission was called off because there were not enough spacesuits available on the station for both of them.

Another attempt for the first all-female spacewalk, a roughly six-hour crawl on the exterior of the space station to install new batteries, is due to take place this Thursday, NASA said.