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ScienceSpaceThis Sandbox Isn’t For Kids, It’s For Spacesuit Research
People that get to do the same thing for a living as they did when they were a child are lucky. The ones that get to do it while wearing a space suit, too? They just make me jealous. The guys in this image are testing space suits. In a sandpit. Here’s a little more … Continued
By Attila Nagy -
Tech News
This Crazy Patchwork of Restraints Ultimately Led to Modern Pressurized Spacesuits
1962: This isn’t a demented experiment from some wacky fictional mad scientist. Instead, it’s actual serious research by NASA that led to pressurized spacesuits. Robert St. John is the lucky victim, er, “test subject” in this completely legitimate and necessary experiment on pilot restraint and closed loop breathing systems at NASA’s Ames Research Center. The … Continued
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ScienceSpace
Why NASA Put This Spacesuit Through a CT Scanner
Last year, Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano nearly drowned in his own fluids during a harrowing spacewalk-gone-wrong. Now, NASA has teamed with the Houston Methodist Hospital’s research institute to make sure that such a thing never happens again—using a CT scanner. If you don’t recall the crisis, here’s what happened: Parmitano’s emergency stemmed from a clogged … Continued
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Tech NewsDesignThe Marshmallow Moon-Suit
Allyn B. “Happ” Hazard just looks so dang happy in his space suit, that it seems a shame JPL claims no responsibility for it. NASA never developed his design, but toy manufacturer Mattel knew it was too cute for words. Hap was a Senior Development Engineer in the Missile Engineering Section at JPL, but he … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
Would you like to jump from low Earth orbit using this awesome suit?
Fearless Felix Baumgartner’s jump was truly amazing but, at about 127,000 feet, it wasn’t from orbit—not even low Earth orbit. Maybe one day someone will beat his record with this re-entry emergency suit. Can you imagine being inside as you plunge into Earth’s atmosphere and everything turns into fire? You know how it goes: “I’m … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech NewsDesign
Vote on the Z-2 Spacesuit Prototype design
NASA is collecting votes on the aesthetics of the next edition of the Z-series spacesuit prototypes. With a lot of gortex and electroluminescent wire, the options come straight out of a scifi set. Alas, this is for the prototype phase, which means it is a non-flight suit that will stay firmly on Earth. The cover … Continued
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Tech News
The Lonely Astronaut Photoshoot
If I had a space suit, I’d wear it everywhere. Commuting on the bus, out to bars, hiking in the mountains, lecturing my students. I don’t even care that it’s heavy and difficult to move around in; I’ve been uncomfortable for fashion before. Photographer Ken Hermann is on the same wavelength, with the added insight … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidThis is what we would all do if we got to wear a real NASA spacesuit
BBC’s Richard Hammond of Top Gear fame recently got to step inside a NASA’s Z1 spacesuit prototype that was pressurized to simulate what wearing the spacesuit would be like on Mars. Because Mars atmosphere is so thin, the suit needs to be pumped up inside to hold his body together. No matter to Hammond though. … Continued
By Casey Chan -
io9
Space Suit X-Ray is Coil-Tastic
One in a series of X-Rays currently on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s “Suited for Space” exhibit, this unusual view gives the observer a peek inside an experimental space suit designed in the late sixties. Via National Geographic: Cathleen Lewis, a historian and curator of International Space Programs at the museum, … Continued
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io9An in-depth tour of the suit astronauts use to make repairs in space
If you’ve ever watched footage of a spacewalk, you’ve seen an astronaut outfitted in an extravehicular mobility unit (EMU), the spacesuit specially designed for astronauts working outside of spacecraft orbiting Earthat 17,220 miles per hour. In a recent episode of Tested, Norm met up with Terry Dunn, Training Operations Manager at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab, … Continued
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io9
A Movie About the Origins of the World’s Most Famous Spacesuit
It’s been eight long years since Apollo 13. We need our historically accurate space movie fix! Thank goodness Warner Bros. is cooking up a new feature, Spacesuit, based entirely on the creation of the Apollo spacesuits. OK, we’re listening. Deadline is reporting Warner Bros. has hired Richard Cordiner to adapt Nicholas de Monchaux’s detailed book … Continued
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io9
Would Edgar Allan Poe have made a great astronaut, or the greatest astronaut?
“The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true. In space.” — Edgar Allan Poe (Except that last bit about space. That was us. But that’s what he probably meant, so just go with … Continued
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io9
This intrepid spaceman has gone to some seriously strange places
Start your week with a healthy dose of otherwordly weirdness, courtesy of surrealist illustrator Tom Colbie — because nothing cures a case of the Mondays like a sword-wielding centaur in a space suit. The images featured here come from an awesome series entitled Shots From a Parallel Dimension. You’ll immediately notice the common thread running … Continued
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ScienceSpace
Antarctica Is Fake Mars
Sending humans to Mars is going to cost gazillion dollars and take a long, long time—but when it does happen, we want to be prepared. How? Go to Antarctica in spacesuits and pretend it’s Mars. NASA teamed up with the University of North Dakota’s Space Suit Laboratory (that’s a business card I’d love to hand … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
ScienceSpace
A Failed Prototype: The Hamster Ball Spacesuit
Space suits are insanely cool. Except this one. This prototype hamster ball suit was designed by engineers at John Hopkins and actually presented to NASA in 1964. The engineers claimed astronauts would be more mobile with this thing on. I’m not kidding, this bubbleboy thing was real and it was called the Spherical Experiment #1 … Continued
By Casey Chan -
ScienceSpace
The Moon Spacesuit Under X-Rays
This is an X-ray of the suit that Alan Shepard wore on the Moon in February 5, 1971, during the Apollo 14 mission spacewalks on the Fra Mauro formation. Nothing in the suit is superfluous. Every single thing has a purpose: Protect astronauts from sure death. The right stuff for the guys with the Right … Continued
By Jesus Diaz
