Watch: NASA working on new spacesuit with built-in cooling system to withstand Moon temperatures

NASA is developing a new spacesuit with a built-in cooling system to help astronauts withstand the unfiltered sun rays on the Moon.

In a new video published by NASA, the astronauts were seen spacewalking outside the International Space Station wearing the suit as they receive cool water from a device onboard.

NASA hopes that their suit will be able to protect their astronauts from the moon's temperature that can reach a boiling 250 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsius or 400 Kelvin) during lunar daytime at the moon's equator.

Though the concept of a built-in cooling system dates back to the 1970s of the Apollo missions, the US space agency has added additional new features to the suit that can withstand the harsh sun rays.

According to NASA, the new spacesuit is equipped with pressure sensors, a thermal control loop to maintain a set temperature, and has the ability to release warm water vapour into space.

“As NASA embraces commercial partnerships to optimize spacesuit technology as part of the Artemis program, the Spacesuit Evaporation Rejection Flight Experiment (SERFE) payload continues to be tested onboard the International Space Station,” NASA wrote in the caption of the clip. 

According to NASA, the latest cooling technology is being tested for the upcoming Artemis missions, which are set to take place in 2025. The programme aims to return the humans to the Moon.

In 2025, Artemis 3 will bring humans to the moon with the first woman and person of colour to reach the lunar surface on board.

The crew will touch down near the moon’s south pole, which is believed to have large amounts of ice.