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Suited for Space: the development of astronautical fashion


On August 22, 2013, I wrote in the blog “Spacewalker almost drowns from water in his helmet” that Italian astronaut, Major Luca Parmitano, had technical problems with water seeping into his helmet on July 16 this year as he was on his second space walk at the International Space Station. NASA’s initial investigations trace the problem to his backpack which contains the life-support equipment.

I am currently in Washington DC, where I visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the exhibition “Suited for Space.” The exhibition, continuing until December 2, 2013, displays the history and development of the space suit, and accessories, worn by astronauts from the 1960s to present day. From spacesuits to backpacks to helmets and gloves, the museum shows the development through photographs and even x-rays of suits—from the Freedom 7 Suit of 1961 to the 1968 Apollo Suit and Skylab 3 Suit of 1973.


 The first helmets were extremely restrictive. Astronauts could barely move their heads. And they certainly couldn’t see their feet. Now helmets enable astronauts to see from side to side. A feed port on the side of a helmet has valves for emergency food or water intake, and channels at the back are for air flow. Gloves developed over time to include rubber and neoprene fingertips to protect the astronauts’ hands, but also enable them to feel objects.

Over time spacesuits allowed greater arm movement and leg movement, as well as technical advances and lots of pockets to keep specimens collected the moon from floating in space. In some suits, over 20 layers of material protect the astronaut and contain in-built technological instruments. Until recently, NASA could see inside space clothing only by peering through the neck or the wrist with a flashlight. At best, NASA could only guess at the state of a suit’s interior. X-rays, such as the one photographed of Alan Shepard’s Apollo 14 suit, make it possible to examine the interior construction to see its wear-and-tear and effects of space travel.

“Suited for Space” is just one of the many exhibitons at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum—all free!







MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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