The Apollo suits were stiff, and bending at the waist was difficult and awkward. The problem of picking up rocks and soil samples was solved by creating long-handled sampling tools such as scoops and rakes. Because bulky spacesuit gloves made grasping difficult, tool handles were made thicker than normal. Today's spacewalkers have an extensive collection of EVA tools to employ during Shuttle and International Space Station missions. Several criteria are used in creating useful tools for space flight.
Tools have to be easily gripped by astronauts wearing heavy gloves.
The tools have to be safe to use and reliable under temperatures that can vary by hundreds of degrees. Colliding with a socket wrench left in orbit by some earlier space mission could be disastrous. In the planning phase of each mission, tools are selected on the basis of the jobs that must be done. Specialized tools are often created when no existing tool will do the job. Many of the tools found in a traditional tool box on Earth are used in space as well.