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spacesuit, environmental suits in SciFi

jefferiestubes8

jefferiestubes8

Commodore
Commodore
Similar to a thread about Trek spacesuit designs I though we can discuss SciFi spacesuit & environmental suit designs and our favorites. Compare and contrast to Trek and your favorite designs from any film, TV, or videogame. URL links to pages with an image please...




Sphere (1997)
http://www.hboasia.com/ondemand/movie/3593
underwater suit for high pressure deep diving


The Abyss (1989)
experimental fluid-breathing diving suit
http://www.engadget.com/2004/10/01/movie-gadget-friday-the-fluid-breathing-system-from-the-abyss/

Red Planet (2000)
Mars suit
http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/val_kilmer_red_planet_001.html
Carrie Anne Moss' suit is better though. Almost robot like in the arms. I think her
suit was supposed to be some emergency suit.
http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/carrie_anne_moss_red_planet_003.html
http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/carrie_anne_moss_val_kilmer_red_planet_001.html

Armageddon (1998)
http://www.ketzer.com/original_movie_props/bruce_willis_space_suit.html

"Space Cowboys" 2000
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2749077760/tt0186566

Alien (1979)
http://www.maverick-media.co.uk/movies/alien_1979/main.html
http://www.maverick-media.co.uk/movies/alien_1979/image_003.html
I think the 1981 movie "Outland" ripped off the helmet design of "Alien".

1981 Sean Connery movie Outland
Original Miner Space Suit
http://www.propstore.com/product-Rare-Original-Miner-Space-Suit1.htm

Outbreak (1995)
biological suit
http://uashome.alaska.edu/~dfgriffin/website/outbreak.htm
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1849399296/tt0114069


Defying Gravity (2009)
http://spoilertv.iimmgg.com/image/405e591a3940148bbceee9db5c70d55e
http://spoilertv.iimmgg.com/image/eeea49a61383a4e88496e588215ae1a9
I really liked their helmets. The white suits with the red velcro not so much, but still nice clean design. More form over function.

Star Trek First Contact, Deep Impact
http://www.globaleffects.com/B_02_frameset.html?Page=02_spacesuits.html
The "First Contact" helmet reminds me most of "Outbreak"'s biological suit helmet.

Moon (2009)
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm461081344/tt1182345

Mission To Mars (2000)
spacesuit
http://www.propstore.com/nielsonspacesuit.htm
really reminds me of the ones in "2001: A Space Odyssey", specifically the helmets

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm26580992/tt0062622



Realistic space suits? – NASA doesn't rent space suits.
http://www.globaleffects.com/B_02_frameset.html?Page=02_spacesuits.html

I would say the "Mission to Mars" suits (once the backpack is mounted) look most realistic to NASA current outerspace EVA working suits with ones from "Space Cowboys" & "Armageddon" orange coming in a close second for inside a shuttle suit.
The helmets on the Mars suits for "Red Planet" are great in that they can swing a visor up & down for UV protection.

From a design aesthetic I like the "Defying Gravity" suits & helmets the best.
 
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I believe the FBS in The Abyss was a redress of the emergency space suits from Alien. Helmet design, hose fittings, etc all look the same. The emergency suits got little screen time and are not the same suits used for the visit to the Space Jockey craft.

A very small pic is here.
 
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The Abyss (1989)
experimental fluid-breathing diving suit
http://www.engadget.com/2004/10/01/movie-gadget-friday-the-fluid-breathing-system-from-the-abyss/
Click to expand...
yeah I have a question about this. Before I ever saw the film I had already once seen the experiment they did with the rat and the fluid, but in a documentary. So when the scene came up I was like "oh hey cool!" but then they do it with the guy and I was a bit surprised(& skeptical.):shifty: Is it possible in real life for them to do that with a human?
 
I love the Asgard Exoskeletons.
AlienVillan11.jpg
 
melancholymecha said:
yeah I have a question about this. Before I ever saw the film I had already once seen the experiment they did with the rat and the fluid, but in a documentary. So when the scene came up I was like "oh hey cool!" but then they do it with the guy and I was a bit surprised(& skeptical.):shifty: Is it possible in real life for them to do that with a human?
Click to expand...

The rat in the film, I believe actually was breathing the stuff. Ed Harris was not.

IIRC, they do sometimes use a similar technology for premature babies with underdeveloped lungs. Something about a surfactant not being on the inner surfaces to keep them from sticking together... There were some medical trials in the 1990s.

Here is some info.
 
What about the Salvage 1 Spacesuits they were surplus that Harry bought specifically for use on the Moon,and in orbit.

Signed

Buck Rogers

P.S.: what about the Spacesuit that Gill Gerard wore as Buck from the movie Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
 
C.E. Evans said:
My favorite spacesuit of all time is from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's really the only one I'd truly like to wear myself.
http://www.bucwheat.com/2k9/poole.jpg
Click to expand...

... apart from the vulnerability of the Oxygen supply tube, and the lack of redundancy thereof. :vulcan:

Has there been an example of a skinsuit used in live-actor sci-fi TV or movies? (A skinsuit uses the elastic tension of fabric rather than gas to apply pressure to the body.) I think skinsuits are fairly common in anime but I can't recall an example offhand.
 
Alpha_Geek said:
melancholymecha said:
yeah I have a question about this. Before I ever saw the film I had already once seen the experiment they did with the rat and the fluid, but in a documentary. So when the scene came up I was like "oh hey cool!" but then they do it with the guy and I was a bit surprised(& skeptical.):shifty: Is it possible in real life for them to do that with a human?
Click to expand...

The rat in the film, I believe actually was breathing the stuff. Ed Harris was not.

IIRC, they do sometimes use a similar technology for premature babies with underdeveloped lungs. Something about a surfactant not being on the inner surfaces to keep them from sticking together... There were some medical trials in the 1990s.

Here is some info.
Click to expand...

interesting...breathing liquid cant feel pleasant, but I guess you'd get used to it.
 
SG-17 said:
I love the Asgard Exoskeletons.
AlienVillan11.jpg
Click to expand...

Spoiler about those suites:

We are going to find out in an upcoming episode of SGU that it was the Ancients who made those suites, they originated from the Ancients and there is a reason the suites the Asgard wear are similar to what we are going to see in a future episode
 
Great Mambo Chicken said:
C.E. Evans said:
My favorite spacesuit of all time is from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's really the only one I'd truly like to wear myself.
http://www.bucwheat.com/2k9/poole.jpg
Click to expand...

... apart from the vulnerability of the Oxygen supply tube, and the lack of redundancy thereof. :vulcan:

Has there been an example of a skinsuit used in live-actor sci-fi TV or movies? (A skinsuit uses the elastic tension of fabric rather than gas to apply pressure to the body.) I think skinsuits are fairly common in anime but I can't recall an example offhand.
Click to expand...

there are tons, and what space suits I'd like to see are the Mjolnir and ODST armors
 
There was one more suit design from "Defying Gravity"
http://dgcrew.wordpress.com/
scroll down to "Michelin man"
Zoe is in a spacesuit more like an underwater high pressure suit for deep diving.
Still a nice aesthetic & color design but too bulky for outerspace. I don't remember why they had that suit.
 
Interested that so few costume designers make helmets with good visibility - both for the actor, the character and the audience. Is it because in the real world, helmets have a face plate and the rest is opaque and so they think audiences wouldn't buy it? I just think from a real world point of view, visibility would be enhanced if more of the helmet was transparent - ie for the characters. The audience would be able to see the actors better, too. Just a thought.
 
Well, I'd say since I have a little time under the Darth Vader helmet, that your visibility isn't really cut down at all. You do lose some peripheral vision, but nothing that is bothersome or feels like your blinded.

I were glasses normaly so I'm used to eye tracking to compensate for the frame lines, which is no big deal either.

The view port size should be kept small, so long as you have proper eye site the extra visibility is pointless and serves no function....

assuming the helmet moves with the shoulders. If its fixed to the frame then a bubble is what you would need.

Think P-51 B vs. D, etc.

or any early WWII plane to is equal at the end of the war. Hell I think there was even bubble P-40s ( I may be wrong).. I know there was bubble P-47s.
 
ThunderAeroI said:
I were glasses normaly so I'm used to eye tracking to compensate for the frame lines, which is no big deal either.
Click to expand...

I wear spectacles, too, and I don't have a problem with perhiperal vision with them. When I'm diving I do have limited peripheral vision with my dive mask. I wish it had better so that I didn't have to turn my head so much. That's where I was coming from with the limited vis thing. Your experience obviously varies with the Vader helmet.
 
WillsCorpse said:
Interested that so few costume designers make helmets with good visibility - both for the actor, the character and the audience. Is it because in the real world, helmets have a face plate and the rest is opaque and so they think audiences wouldn't buy it? I just think from a real world point of view, visibility would be enhanced if more of the helmet was transparent - ie for the characters. The audience would be able to see the actors better, too. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

On a similar note, there is a conceite with almost all space suits shown in sci-fi that bugs me. In almost every depiction the interior of the helmet has a bright light mounted to show the actor's face. In reality this would make it very difficult to see outside the suit due to the glare of the light on the inside of the faceplate.

like trying to see out the window of a well lit room at night.
 
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