New NASA Spacesuit Looks like Buzz Lightyear's

It might make the astronaut wearing it look like a real-life Buzz Lightyear, but a new prototype spacesuit that NASA just finished testing represents the first major overhaul in spacesuit technology since 1998.


Flexible, white, and lime green accented, the suit — known as the Z-1 — is designed not only to help astronauts comfortably maneuver during spacewalks in microgravity, but also to deftly move about when walking on the surface of a planet or other smaller heavenly body, like an asteroid.

Plus, it's fashionable: The suit bears an unmistakable resemblance to the costume worn by "Toy Story" animated film character Buzz Lightyear.

The spacesuit in use today for spacewalking, known as an EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit), was designed to aid in building the International Space Station, but a previous iteration of the EMU was used for moonwalks during the Apollo missions. While both of these models serve their respective purposes, the creators of the Z-1 wanted to develop a more versatile outfit for space.