Support NeoGAF

[tiggerkiddo]

Ehhhh why mess with a good thing? The old ones were classics.

 

[Snaku]

Seconds later...

I can't breath.

 

[Angry Fork]

at least go with a newer movie

Will these kinds of suits ever be possible? How come real ones have to be so fluffy/big?

And the lime green in the suit looks awful at least make it black or red.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

So basically the reason why it looks like a cheap prototype is because it is a cheap prototype.

Likely over a million dollars for that suit.

 

[Azure Dream]

Well, I'm glad NASA is testing out something like this. It's nice to see the space program making real progress.

Still looks silly, of course.

Excellent. Along the same lines...

 

[superfamicom]

I think the blue, red and gray are the best looking.
But for safety the gray is not a good idea perhaps.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

There is no way in hell that's real. No way in hell. LMAO

 

[hteng]

space turtle

 

[Dan]

Ehhhh why mess with a good thing? The old ones were classics.

Because they're old and busted? I'll take vastly improved functionality and durability over nostalgia and aesthetics any day.

 

[davepoobond]

I think it's to demonstrate flexibility, as the previous suits could barely bend at the knees, much less the hip.

Yup. People have no idea how restricting the old suits were.

that's great that its flexible, but i honestly cant see when some astronaut is going to be picking up a rock on the ground of any planet, let alone sitting down on one. they're essentially only going to be using these suits in zero g.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

I think the blue, red and gray are the best looking.
But for safety the gray is not a good idea perhaps.

It looks fine as it is, and yellow has maximum attention grabbing effect.
Safety over aesthetics.

 

[PhoenixDark]

They seemed to have went with a non-shitty one instead.

BorkBork don't hurt 'em!

 

[diamount]

Practicality before looks.

 

[Plywood]

Can they rethink those spacesuits? How is our own species let alone aliens supposed to take anyone serious in those?

 

[Angelus Errare]

Is there a purpose behind the lime-green trim?

So we can see you as you drift away in the vastness of space.

 

[Row]

often times the uglier something is the better the functionality

ex: windows 8, uggs, subaru impreza, anthony davis, etc.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

I think the blue, red and gray are the best looking.
But for safety the gray is not a good idea perhaps.

I think the ones China showed off a while back had the blue stripes.
Lime green makes the most sense imo though why not have the entire suit that color or neon orange if its a visibility thing.

 

[saunderez]

I think the blue, red and gray are the best looking.
But for safety the gray is not a good idea perhaps.

I like Nasa Blue the best. Same colour as their logo, make it reflective and call it a day.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Why so big still? I feel like we should have skin tight suit by now.

 

[meppi]

Can they rethink those spacesuits? How is our own species let alone aliens supposed to take anyone serious in those?

That was my first reaction as well. But after thinking it over, it's only natural that for what is still basically our baby-steps into space, we dress our astronauts like toddlers.

 

[BolognaSoup]

Why so big still? I feel like we should have skin tight suit by now.

There's some documentary on Netflix that shows some of the prototypes they're working on. Just not ready yet.

These pants/shorts look so awkward.

 

[universalmind]

Aliens just gonna laugh at us, sigh.

 

[FStop7]

Would skin tight even be a good idea?

 

[Ace Harding]

It looks like a cross between a sumo suit and hockey goalie gear, with those dumb fucking shorts.

And what's that shit on his back?

Dude looks like an AstroBro.

 

[BakedPigeon]

Microsoft made these right? ----My first reaction.

 

[Omni]

Looks... odd. But I guess the people who are lucky enough to go into space won't actually give a fuck what it looks like haha

 

[legacyzero]

When I get on the large Ark ship that carries me to Kepler, I aint wearing that shit.

 

[meltingparappa]

Why so big still? I feel like we should have skin tight suit by now.

The suits are pressurized so they need a significant bit of give. They're also probably incredibly thick with layer upon layers to seal in heat, retain and circulate air, and shield from the massive amounts of radiation.

that's great that its flexible, but i honestly cant see when some astronaut is going to be picking up a rock on the ground of any planet

Awww, sad inadvertent burn on NASA's future for manned lunar missions.

 

[AlexMogil]

 

[Chittagong]

1980s NASA suits were macho as fuck, this one however strips out all the manhood of whoever wears it. Daddy suit.

 

[Escape Goat]

 

[Einchy]

Looks like the future.

Future shit is cool.

 

[itwasTuesday]

Do they have to pump up the shoes.

 

[Concept17]

Its... cleaner looking. Soon they'll be going up in all laytex/skin-tight suits that'll surely have some kind of stealth mode.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

It looks like a cross between a sumo suit and hockey goalie gear, with those dumb fucking shorts.

And what's that shit on his back?

Dude looks like an AstroBro.

Where they attach the backpack(oxygen).

The shoulders and helmet are the only bad looking parts imo.
The legs look way more maneuverable then past suits.

 

[Escape Goat]

Its... cleaner looking. Soon they'll be going up in all laytex/skin-tight suits that'll surely have some kind of stealth mode.

They actually gave an in-show explanation why Seven (who happened to workout, even as a borg) wore a skin tight catsuit. If its good enough for ex-Borg, its good enough for our astronauts.

 

[Skilotonn]

That doesn't look anything like a modern suit should look at all.

Perfect.

 

[C-Drive]

I saw these on an episode of myth busters months ago. Provided those might have been beta versions.

 

[Megasoum]

The birth of using color to designate job speciality, ala Star Trek. Lime green = space models.

Actually we've been using color coded suits since the Apollo program. For example the Commander is Red, the pilot is Blue, etc.

For urination within the suit, they actually use a sort of form-fitting condom. This is one of the reasons the program was reticent for female astronauts for so long. Previously they used catheters.

For the ole' number two, most shuttle living spaces have a space toilet that supposedly doesn't work, and most of the time they have to default to a bag that you hold over your anus, then pull it out manually with your fingers. AND THEN squirt a germicide gel and massage it in, so that the e. coli doesn't expel gas and make the bag explode.

Jim Lowell, the astronaut portrayed by Tom Hanks in Apollo 13, said that you know you're reached a new level of intimacy with a fellow astronaut when you can convince them to work the bag for you.

And now you know!


Another fun piece of trivia is the Russian cosmonaut suits had a cyanide capsule inside, in case they go adrift in space. American suits, by contrast, have snacks for the calories burnt when performing a spacewalk.


Also based on those poses alone, that suit is infinitely more flexible than the current one.

The toilets are working fine nowadays.

And I don't really see why you would need to "pull it out manually"... It's not because you're in zero g that you can't push with your bowel.

It wouldn't surprise me that the cyanide capsule story is true for the Russian (it was the kind of thing to would have done back then) but it's so stupid... There was rumors about "suicide pills" onboard Apollo also but NASA always denied it, and for good reason. Novell (again) explained why it was stupid. When they were sitting in the capsule or the LM on their way to the Moon, if they really wanted to die for some reason, there was at least 10 different ways they could have done it faster and less painfull than using cyanide. Heck, they could have easily punched a hole with their bare fist through the LM wall if they wanted lol... That thing had wall as thick as a couple of layers of aluminium foil.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Seconds later...

hahaha. the astronauts face.

"think of the fame. keep concentrated. dont get a boner. juist maintain the camel like they told you in astronaut school"

 

[Dr.Guru of Peru]

It doesn't even look practical.

Shit, I guess its back to the drawing board for NASA. Legacyzero says it doesn't even look practical.

I expect the re-design to be slim fitting. V-necks too for the summer-time missions.

 

[Paradicia]

I hoped they would've gone for something more ergonomic but we're still stuck in the past as far as the bulky design goes.

How many decades will it take for something like this to come about I wonder?

A nerd can dream.

 

[SegaFanac]

I hoped they would've gone for something more ergonomic but we're still stuck in the past as far as the bulky design goes.

How many decades will it take for something like this to come about I wonder?

A nerd can dream.

This is the design of my NASA dreams......... also gotta love the old "worm" logo for NASA as opposed to the "meatball" logo.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

This is the design of my NASA dreams......... also gotta love the old "worm" logo for NASA as opposed to the "meatball" logo.

Both are looking pretty dated imo.

 

[methane47]

I hoped they would've gone for something more ergonomic but we're still stuck in the past as far as the bulky design goes.

How many decades will it take for something like this to come about I wonder?

A nerd can dream.

How would you put this on though?

 

[iamblades]

How would you put this on though?

That's the biggest barrier to skintight suits currently, they are actually harder to put on than the current ones.

Most of the tech to create them already exists though, though there are possibly issues with temperature regulation though. I imagine you don't want something in direct sunlight touching your skin directly unless it is damn reflective/insulated.

Theoretically you could use sweat evaporation for cooling if the fabric were relfective enough to be only moderately warm on the back side, but I dunno how quickly that would evaporate astronauts. Heating is a bit less of an issue in my understanding because radiative cooling in space is actually quite slow. Evaporative cooling could be a larger issue though.

Mechanical counter-pressure instead of pressurization should be easy enough to manage though.

 

[CLEEK]

dat camel toe

Space flaps.

 

[davepoobond]

How would you put this on though?

you grow into it.

 

[meltingparappa]

The toilets are working fine nowadays.

And I don't really see why you would need to "pull it out manually"... It's not because you're in zero g that you can't push with your bowel.

I promise I didn't make it up!

I just finished reading a great book about NASA's current plans called "Packing For Mars" and there is a whole chapter is devoted to it. The bag even has a finger cozy for maximum grip potential.

The author didn't go into the exact physics of it, but I can only imagine it perhaps has more to do with the lack of gravity affecting your intestines (which apparently float up into your chest a bit) instead of the role that gravity plays in expelling it. Urine and vomit have much more pressure in their expulsion, and under normal circumstances feces do not. The book is interesting in that it ties it directly into the purposeful design of astronaut nutrition over the years, and trying to maximize calorie intake with a minimum of waste.

Richard Garriott also voices his disdain for the toilet on the ISS in the "Man on a Mission" documentary, although he doesn't go into the gruesome details. Maybe the ISS toilet is significantly different than the more recent ones in the shuttles.

And the cyanide pill thing is pretty amazing when you think that death by asphyxiation is supposedly pretty euphoric as your brain cells die from the lack of oxygen, instead of the torturous burning pain that cyanide causes.

 

[ThatCrazyGuy]

They have to be bulky, right? Insulation or something ?

Anyways, I think they look fine. I assume they function correctly , which is the most important thing.