NASA’s iconic space suits could be getting a makeover, but for fresh 2017 fashion, these sure seem familiar.
On Thursday, Boeing revealed its designs for the Starliner Ascent/Entry suit for its commercial crew members. Though there are small tweaks throughout the suit for comfort and ease of use (there’s only so much you can do for sleekness on these things, but it’s ostensibly less bulky too), one change immediately sticks out: It’s blue.
If you take a closer look, you’ll note a couple of other helpful changes: The gloves are now touchscreen-compatible, the helmet is functionally a zip-up hoodie, etc. But is it revolutionary? Twitter users immediately snarked that they’d seen this design before; they just couldn’t quite put their finger on where.
Was it Lego?
Something about @NASA‘a new spacesuit design … looks kind of familiar. https://t.co/0ue0dTSKxA #SPACESHIP pic.twitter.com/9zZquJ365i
— Daniel Benneworth-Gray (@gray) January 26, 2017
Was it Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey?
https://twitter.com/DannyIvkovic77/status/824925895143985153
It’s not the first time Earthlings have explored more colorful designs for spaceflight. An Imgur user compiled this collection of astronaut fashion choices from around the globe.
View post on imgur.comThe 1965 Apollo prototype (bottom row, first from left) has a similar colorful flair, and Litton Industries’ RX-3 MOL Prototype (top row, first from right) has a C-3PO thing going for it.
Whatever the inspiration, at least the astronauts won’t be confused for Michelin Men anymore.
https://twitter.com/Rydelfox/status/798948538684043264
