For decades, if you were a woman heading into orbit, you weren't exactly wearing clothes made for you. You were essentially wearing a man’s suit that had been "sized down." Imagine trying to run a marathon in boots three sizes too big, or doing surgery while wearing oven mitts that don't quite reach your fingertips. That is basically what female astronauts have dealt with since the dawn of the Space Shuttle era. It isn't just a matter of "pink versus blue" or aesthetics. It’s about mobility, safety, and the cold, hard physics of pressurized garments.
Space is hard. It’s even harder when your gear fights you.
When we talk about space suits for women, we are usually talking about the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suits—those bulky, white, pressurized mini-spacecraft that allow humans to survive the vacuum. For nearly 40 years, NASA relied on the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). These were designed in the 1970s. Back then, the plan was to have small, medium, large, and extra-large sizes. But budget cuts are a real thing. NASA scrapped the "small" and "extra-large" sizes, leaving a narrow middle ground that favored the average male physique of the 1970s. This isn't some conspiracy; it was a resource decision that had massive, unintended consequences for decades of female explorers.
The 2019 All-Female Spacewalk That Didn't Happen (At First)
You probably remember the headlines from March 2019. It was supposed to be a historic moment: the first all-female spacewalk with Anne McClain and Christina Koch. Then, suddenly, it was canceled. People were furious. Why? Because there weren't enough medium-sized suits ready to go on the International Space Station (ISS).
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McClain realized during an earlier walk that a "medium" torso fit her better than the "large" she had trained in, but there was only one medium torso configured and flight-ready. Rather than risk safety or delay the mission's critical battery swaps, she stepped aside. It was a PR nightmare for NASA, but it highlighted a glaring truth: the hardware was outdated. The "one size fits many" approach was failing. When a suit is too big, the shoulders don't line up. You can't reach the tools on your chest. Every time you move your arm, you're fighting the internal pressure of the suit just to bend a joint that isn't where your actual elbow is. It’s exhausting. It’s dangerous.
Anatomy, Physiology, and the Pressure Cooker
Men and women are built differently. Shocking, right? But in a pressurized suit, those differences are magnified.
Women generally have narrower shoulders and wider hips. In a legacy EMU, the hard upper torso (HUT) is a rigid fiberglass shell. If your shoulders are narrower than the suit’s shoulder bearings, you lose leverage. You end up using your hands and forearms to do work that should be done by your upper body. This leads to rapid fatigue and, in some cases, shoulder injuries. In fact, female astronauts have historically reported a higher rate of shoulder strain during EVA training in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab.
Then there’s the "waste management" issue. Let's be blunt. For a long time, the systems designed to handle bodily functions in a suit were built for male anatomy. The Maximum Absorbency Garment (MAG)—basically a high-tech diaper—is a temporary fix, but for long-duration lunar missions, we need something better.
The Axiom Space Revolution
Enter the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU). NASA realized they couldn't just keep patching up 40-year-old tech. For the Artemis missions—which aim to put the first woman on the Moon—they partnered with Axiom Space.
The AxEMU is a game-changer. Instead of a rigid "one size fits most" shell, it uses a modular design with a much wider range of motion. The joints are designed to handle the dusty, rugged terrain of the lunar south pole. Most importantly, it’s built to accommodate at least 90 percent of the male and female population.
- Increased adjustability: The suit features sizing strips that allow technicians to fine-tune the length of the arms and legs.
- Better visibility: The helmet geometry is improved, which is huge for smaller-statured astronauts who previously felt like they were looking through a porthole from the back of a cave.
- Rear-entry design: Unlike the old suits that you basically "climbed into" through the middle, astronauts crawl into the AxEMU through a hatch in the back. This keeps the shoulder bearings tighter together, solving that "narrow shoulder" leverage problem.
Why "Shrink It and Pink It" Fails in Orbit
In the consumer world, brands often take a male product, make it smaller, paint it a "feminine" color, and call it a day. In aerospace, that mindset can be fatal.
If a glove is too big, the fingertips fold over. You lose tactile feedback. You can't flip a switch or grab a handrail. During a spacewalk, your hands are your only way to move. If your gloves don't fit perfectly, your muscles cramp within an hour. Now imagine you're out there for seven hours.
The new generation of space suits for women focuses on the "kinematics" of the body. Engineers like Kristine Davis at NASA have been vocal about the need for suits that allow for "natural" movement. This means putting the pivots of the suit exactly where the human joints are. It sounds simple. It’s incredibly hard to engineer when you’re essentially trying to turn a human-shaped balloon into a flexible set of armor.
The Biology of the Lunar South Pole
We also have to talk about the environment. The Artemis missions aren't just going back to the Moon; they’re going to the South Pole. It’s a place of permanent shadows and extreme cold.
Women often have different thermoregulation patterns than men. Studies have shown that women’s extremities—hands and feet—tend to get colder faster. The new suits have to account for this with better active heating systems and more efficient insulation. You can't just crank up the heat for everyone, because the person next to you might be overheating. The cooling and heating loops need to be precise.
Real-World Testing and Expert Insights
Astronauts like Peggy Whitson, who has spent more time in space than any other American, have provided the "boots on the ground" data needed for these changes. Whitson has logged over 600 days in space. She knows exactly where the old suits pinched, where they rubbed, and where they failed to provide the necessary reach.
The data suggests that when a suit fits, performance parity is total. There is no "strength gap" that prevents a woman from doing a spacewalk; there is only a "gear gap." When the suit allows for proper leverage, a female astronaut can perform the same high-torque maintenance tasks as her male counterparts with the same efficiency.
Misconceptions About Suit Design
A common myth is that space suits are just "clothes." They aren't. They are specialized spacecraft. Each suit costs millions of dollars to produce and maintain.
Another misconception? That we only need "women's suits." Actually, what we need are inclusive suits. The redesigns being done for women actually benefit smaller-framed men, too. The old EMU was also a struggle for men who fell outside the 50th percentile of height and weight. By designing for the "edges" of the human spectrum, you create a better product for everyone in the middle.
What’s Next for Lunar Gear?
We are currently in a transition period. The ISS still uses the old EMUs because they are certified and they work—mostly. But the AxEMU is the future. We’re also seeing private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin develop their own EVA suits.
SpaceX’s EVA suit, which debuted during the Polaris Dawn mission, is a departure from the bulky NASA look. It’s sleek. It’s based on the flight suits they already use, but with added thermal protection and joint mobility. It’s a "soft" suit, which means it relies more on fabric layers and less on hard shells. This could be the key to making space suits for women that are truly comfortable and highly mobile.
Actionable Steps for the Future of Space Tech
If you're following the development of space hardware or interested in the future of human spaceflight, keep an eye on these specific milestones:
- Watch the Artemis II and III suit tests: NASA and Axiom frequently release footage of vacuum chamber tests. Look for "mobility demonstrations" where astronauts perform kneeling or reaching tasks.
- Support STEM programs that focus on human factors engineering: The people solving these problems aren't just rocket scientists; they are "human factors" experts who study how bodies interact with machines.
- Monitor the transition to "Commercial Suits": NASA is moving toward a service-based model where they "rent" suits from companies like Axiom. This competition will likely accelerate the development of better-fitting gear.
- Follow the research on female-specific space health: Organizations like the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) are constantly publishing data on how space affects the female body differently, from bone density to radiation.
The era of the "one-size-fits-men" space program is ending. It has to. If we want to stay on the Moon or go to Mars, we can't leave half the talent pool behind because we didn't want to build a better sleeve or a more adjustable torso. The next small step for man will be taken in a suit that was finally, actually, designed for the woman wearing it.