Virgin Galactic and Adidas Team Up to Build a Sexier Spacesuit

[PatrickJS]

Virgin Galactic and Adidas Team Up to Build a Sexier Spacesuit

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Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is partnering with Adidas' Y-3 division and fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto with the intention of making a sexier spacesuit.

How does a space tourism company set itself apart from the competition? Well, at this point, they really just have to do the thing. Other than that, Virgin Galactic is setting itself up to the fashionable option for discerning travellers.

Richard Branson's company has announced a partnership with Adidas' Y-3 division [http://www.virgingalactic.com/virgin-galactic-and-y-3-announce-exclusive-space-apparel-partnership/], which is a product of fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto. Their project will be to create a sleek, sexy spacesuit for passengers to wear on their trips into orbit and beyond.


No word yet on what the flight suits or spacesuits will look like - the video above isn't showing any actual designs (thankfully) - but I like the multi-disciplinary approach here. If I can just offer one piece of advice to the fashionistas at Virgin: built-in sick bags... and you might want to let your passengers take these suits home with them.

Source: Engadget [http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/14/virgin-galactic-y-3-space-suits/]

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[Dango]

I think their priorities might be misplaced.

Personally I'd be more concerned a space suit that helps me not die because I'm in fucking space and there aren't a ton of people around to admire how good my ass looks.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

We'll see how they do. It should be noted that current space suits take multiple people nearly an hour to put on. As far as the flight suits go, I hope they're careful with the materials. Thinking in zero G is more than it sounds.

 

[Major_Tom]

I assume they mean flight suits, not spacesuits since they can't actually, you know, get to space.

 

[Areloch]

The complicated part of suits built for low/zero atmo is the shielding, not the pressure equalization.

It's actually incredibly easy to build a fabric suit that can compress the body with minimal mobility loss so that the body can survive in a vacuum(think the suits they have in Gundam series). I remember one proposal design that just used overlapping loops on key zones of the body to apply constraint pressure to prevent the body from trying to expand in low/zero atmo.

The issue, as said, is shielding. Keeping the body warm, but blocking the extreme direct heat from the sun, blocking background radiation from the sun and space, protecting against micrometeorites punching into the astronaut, etc. Those are the things that are hard to do at all, and those are also the things that are bulky and restrict movement and cause lots of exhaustion to operate in.

If they've figured out a way to keep most of the shielding while streamlining the design to make it more comfortable, I'll be impressed, but I have doubts this is anything more than slapping a coat of paint over more or less the existing form factor and calling it "revolutionary".

Assuming, of course, that they ARE actually working on a space suit, and not just a flight jumpsuit.

 

[Xeorm]

The complicated part of suits built for low/zero atmo is the shielding, not the pressure equalization.

It's actually incredibly easy to build a fabric suit that can compress the body with minimal mobility loss so that the body can survive in a vacuum(think the suits they have in Gundam series). I remember one proposal design that just used overlapping loops on key zones of the body to apply constraint pressure to prevent the body from trying to expand in low/zero atmo.

The issue, as said, is shielding. Keeping the body warm, but blocking the extreme direct heat from the sun, blocking background radiation from the sun and space, protecting against micrometeorites punching into the astronaut, etc. Those are the things that are hard to do at all, and those are also the things that are bulky and restrict movement and cause lots of exhaustion to operate in.

If they've figured out a way to keep most of the shielding while streamlining the design to make it more comfortable, I'll be impressed, but I have doubts this is anything more than slapping a coat of paint over more or less the existing form factor and calling it "revolutionary".

Assuming, of course, that they ARE actually working on a space suit, and not just a flight jumpsuit.

Yes, so incredibly easy that we haven't built one yet. We've had designs and some research for suits like that, but they've run into a gamut of problems, more than just shielding. It's why they're still in the research stage to develop maintaining pressure and providing for good mobility, rather than making it space ready.

What I'm guessing they're looking for is less a change in functional design, but rather fashion. The changes they mention function wise seem more adapted towards civilian use rather than an astronaut's use.

From the youtube video's caption:

The Y-3 design team has paired the adidas brand?s technical know-how and Y-3?s directional approach to style with the use of advanced fabrics, special techniques and bespoke specifications to ensure fit, comfort and performance. This flight-suit is being designed to fully support a pilot?s natural seating position as identified through a series of tests and trials with the Virgin Galactic pilot corps.

No need to worry about making sure the civilians have as much mobility as possible, but a focus on looks and comfort instead. Sounds good, if they can make it work.

Might also be a change in the partial body suits that pilots sometime use. The halfway one that isn't used for spacewalks, but in case of emergencies. Lots of opportunity there to develop it to look half-way decent and to provide good comfort, without going full ham on the main space suit.

 

[Fulbert]

It's actually incredibly easy to build a fabric suit that can compress the body with minimal mobility loss so that the body can survive in a vacuum(think the suits they have in Gundam series).

Yes, so incredibly easy that we haven't built one yet.

We have in the Gundam series.


Other than that, given how popular the Adidas brand is with a certain demographic in my home country, I can't help but see an Adidas spacesuit as something like this.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Yes, so incredibly easy that we haven't built one yet. We've had designs and some research for suits like that, but they've run into a gamut of problems, more than just shielding. It's why they're still in the research stage to develop maintaining pressure and providing for good mobility, rather than making it space ready.

To add to this, keeping warm isn't much a problem at all when you are in a Thermos flask the size of the entire universe. There are many other serious problems, but that isn't one of them.

 

[Fulbert]

Yes, so incredibly easy that we haven't built one yet. We've had designs and some research for suits like that, but they've run into a gamut of problems, more than just shielding. It's why they're still in the research stage to develop maintaining pressure and providing for good mobility, rather than making it space ready.

To add to this, keeping warm isn't much a problem at all when you are in a Thermos flask the size of the entire universe. There are many other serious problems, but that isn't one of them.

I agree, keeping warm in space shouldn't be too much of a problem. Not as much as keeping yourself from getting too warm, that is. How do you dissipate all the heat from the sun and stay sexy while doing it? There's no convection to take the heat away.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Yes, so incredibly easy that we haven't built one yet. We've had designs and some research for suits like that, but they've run into a gamut of problems, more than just shielding. It's why they're still in the research stage to develop maintaining pressure and providing for good mobility, rather than making it space ready.

To add to this, keeping warm isn't much a problem at all when you are in a Thermos flask the size of the entire universe. There are many other serious problems, but that isn't one of them.

I agree, keeping warm in space shouldn't be too much of a problem. Not as much as keeping yourself from getting too warm, that is. How do you dissipate all the heat from the sun and stay sexy while doing it? There's no convection to take the heat away.

Increase surface area and radiate more, perhaps. You could have wing like structures that could be folded or unfolded. Presumably they could be made to be fashionable.

 

[ccggenius12]

Increase surface area and radiate more, perhaps. You could have wing like structures that could be folded or unfolded. Presumably they could be made to be fashionable.

I am now holding my breath in anticipation of black and gold space suits with monarch butterfly wings.

 

[Xeorm]

I agree, keeping warm in space shouldn't be too much of a problem. Not as much as keeping yourself from getting too warm, that is. How do you dissipate all the heat from the sun and stay sexy while doing it? There's no convection to take the heat away.

Heat sink is the easiest. Have a material on hand that absorbs a lot of heat, pump your heat into that. You'll have a new problem when the sink is full, but you're small, so not much surface area anyway. Plus you'll radiate out some heat. It's not much of a problem, especially for people that should be inside and safe most of the time, like with passengers.

 

[-Samurai-]

I think their priorities might be misplaced.

Personally I'd be more concerned a space suit that helps me not die because I'm in fucking space and there aren't a ton of people around to admire how good my ass looks.

You say that. Until you're in space, floating around in zero gravity, with Earth in full view, and all you can think about is how that spacesuit makes your ass look.