The NASA astronauts who fly aboard Boeing's new spaceship will wear sleek, blue suits that are lighter, simpler and more comfortable than the bulky orange gear of the space shuttle era, company representatives said.
Unveiled today (Jan. 25), the new "Boeing Blue" spacesuits for the Starliner capsule weigh about 20 lbs. (9 kilograms) each with all of their accessories, compared to 30 lbs. (13.6 kg) for the old space shuttle suits, NASA officials said.
Other advances include touch-screen-sensitive gloves, more-flexible material and soft helmets that are incorporated into the suit (rather than the hard, detachable helmets of the shuttle era).
"It is a lot lighter, more formfitting, and it's simpler, which is always a good thing," NASA astronaut Eric Boe said in a statement. "Complicated systems have more ways they can break, so simple is better on something like this."
Source: http://www.space.com/35456-boeing-unveils-starliner-spacesuits-photos.html
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Elon Musk has unveiled the spacesuit (or flight suit) that will be used by astronauts aboard crewed Dragon flights:
In his Instagram post, Musk added that this suit was not a mock-up but rather a fully functional unit. "Already tested to double vacuum pressure," he wrote. "Was incredibly hard to balance aesthetics and function. Easy to do either separately." (Double vacuum pressure simply means the suit was probably inflated to twice the pressure of sea level and then put into a vacuum chamber.)
Musk gave no other technical information about the suit. Most strikingly, it is white, in contrast to the very blue spacesuits unveiled by Boeing in January.
These are not, strictly speaking, "space suits." Rather, they are more properly flight suits designed to be worn during the ride to space and again on the ride back down to Earth. They have a limited time in which they can operate in a full vacuum and are not intended for spacewalks.
Related: Boeing Unveils New Spacesuits for Starliner Astronaut Taxi
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 28 2017, @04:01AM
Those spacesuits are faggoty. I work for the interior design division of Boston Dynamics and I agree (along with the angry screeches of others) that we need more neutral colors rather than that loud blue.
We want deep blue trim across grayish-blue colors.
Disclaimer: The USAF brass wanted us to color those suits according to pilots' running shoes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 28 2017, @05:31AM
Are you using that as a slur, or you think it's ok because you're gay?
(Score: 2) by Sulla on Sunday January 29 2017, @04:41AM
Seems to meet the moden definition.
Loud and obnoxious like a Harly rider
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 28 2017, @06:55AM
Do you really work at Boston Dynamics? Alphabet Inc. is going to find you and terminate you! With robots!
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 28 2017, @07:45AM
Wouldn't that be frightening...
This summer... one man... a robot uprising... he, for one, does not welcome our new robot overlords... the last hope for mankind... his name is... Ethanol-Fueled.
*shudders*
(Score: 2, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 28 2017, @09:35AM
They already tried. There was a lawsuit and a settlement. I lost in the short-term but won a steady position.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Saturday January 28 2017, @02:05PM
"Those spacesuits are faggoty. I work for the interior design division of Boston Dynamics"
Are you posting while drunk or something? You know SJWs get people fired over this type of shit, right?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by looorg on Saturday January 28 2017, @10:50AM
Why blue? Since they don't intend for them to be used other then in case of emergency, after all they are not designed for spacewalking, shouldn't they come in a colour that can be seen better then blue? Like orange or something that contrasts highly vs the dark space or water of earth. Was it more important for it to be stylish? Is this what they are going to wear when they go to fancy intergalactic dinner parties with the alien overlords?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 28 2017, @03:07PM
Why Blue? Lyrics by Oscar Brown, Jr (to Miles Davis "All Blues") are probably as good as any other reason we're ever going to learn about here--
...
Sea, sky, you and I
See the sky, you and I
All Blues
All shades, all hues, all blues
(Score: 3, Funny) by Username on Saturday January 28 2017, @08:03PM
Pretty easy to explain. Frank was using the yellow one when hal threw him into space. Dave was wearing the red/orange one with the green helmet. Leaving only the blue suit unused. Which Sinclair used to travel through spacetime, thus leaving us with a blue spacesuit in our timeline.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday January 28 2017, @09:11PM
Boeing branding?!!
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