spacesuit design - a balancing act

First picture of SpaceX spacesuit, as posted on Elon Musk's Instagram site.

The entrepreneur, visionary, investor and all-round Space enthusiast Elon Musk recently shared one more of his stellar ideas. Using social media, he unveiled photos of the new design of spacesuits for his Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, a California company better known as SpaceX. Astronauts within the SpaceX Dragon capsule, which will transport crew members on space missions, will use this new model of suit.
 It can be seen from Musk's photos that the design of his space clothes is very different from those used since the early 1960s, when Gagarin made the first manned Earth orbit flight. Technology has greatly improved astronaut suits over the decades, making them safer and more functional, however, only now has the heavy and uncomfortable structure given way to a more modern and sleek design. SpaceX has not yet released many details about the outfit, but Musk claims the new spacesuit has been designed to not only look more appealing, but to also associate this elegance with safety.

---

"Was incredibly hard to balance esthetics and function. Easy to do either separately."
Elon Musk, 2017

​Musk's revelation reminded InnovaSpace Scientific Director Thais Russomano about a course she taught for the Visual Culture and Contemporary Art (ViCCA) Master’s degree, run by Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland, in which she contributed a module on Space & Design. One of her students decided to revisit the concepts of space suits, trying to add some modernity and visual sophistication to them. Interestingly, both the student and Elon Musk shared the same problems and concern, which was the art in finding the right balance between aesthetics, functionality, and strength. It is clear that the task of creating a space boutique will not be easy, nonetheless, it would definitely seem that cosmic fashion design is about to be launched.
Blog written by Mary Upritchard