--- title: NASA Unveils The Latest Next Gen Spacesuit Design description: This aesthetic design, with electroluminescent wiring, was chosen in a public poll, but the technology is an upgrade on a prototype that TIME said was one of the best inventions of 2012. canonical: https://time.com/84811/nasa-spacesuit-future/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-01T19:48:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:02:08.326Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA Unveils The Latest Next Gen Spacesuit Design og:description: This aesthetic design, with electroluminescent wiring, was chosen in a public poll, but the technology is an upgrade on a prototype that TIME said was one of the best inventions of 2012. og:url: https://time.com/84811/nasa-spacesuit-future/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14ce064300b52464/69868d6213c79fb181191e51/nasa.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: NASA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA Unveils The Latest Next Gen Spacesuit Design twitter:description: This aesthetic design, with electroluminescent wiring, was chosen in a public poll, but the technology is an upgrade on a prototype that TIME said was one of the best inventions of 2012. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14ce064300b52464/69868d6213c79fb181191e51/nasa.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is NASA's Spacesuit of the Future  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman May 1, 2014 7:48 PM UTC  NASA  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman May 1, 2014 7:48 PM UTC NASA on Wednesday [unveiled](http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-s-next-prototype-spacesuit-has-a-brand-new-look-and-it-s-all-thanks-to-you/index.html#.U2KbKq2wJkj) a new prototype spacesuit as it moves forward with a project to send humans to Mars. The Z-2 Spacesuit “Technology” design is the latest prototype for a spacesuit that will be able to provide the first astronauts on Mars with a safe and comfortable enclosure. It’s an upgrade from the Z-1, a suit that provided more flexible joints and radiation protection and which TIME said was one of the [best inventions of 2012](http://techland.time.com/2012/11/01/best-inventions-of-the-year-2012/slide/nasas-z-1-space-suit/). NASA says the latest iteration, unlike the Z-1, has a hard composite upper torso designed to provide longer durability. On top of that, some of the joints have been upgraded to optimize mobility. The Z-2 will take on the “Technology” design, which was selected by 233,431 voters over two other designs, and be ready for testing in November. But the suit will remain in prototype mode, and NASA says improvements to this suit will lead to Z-3. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/84811/nasa-spacesuit-future/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/84811/nasa-spacesuit-future/"},"headline":"This Is NASA's Spacesuit of the Future","datePublished":"2014-05-01T19:48:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:08.326Z","description":"This aesthetic design, with electroluminescent wiring, was chosen in a public poll, but the technology is an upgrade on a prototype that TIME said was one of the best inventions of 2012.","url":"https://time.com/84811/nasa-spacesuit-future/","keywords":["space travel","Tech","NASA","Mars"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14ce064300b52464/69868d6213c79fb181191e51/nasa.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14ce064300b52464/69868d6213c79fb181191e51/nasa.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NASA","caption":"","creditText":"NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space-travel/","name":"space travel"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/84811/nasa-spacesuit-future/","name":"This Is NASA's Spacesuit of the Future"}}]}] ```