The reveal of a never-before-seen spacesuit is part of the public opening of a new NASA exhibit, but it's not the only surprise.
It was made by a mythbuster.
Gateway: The Deep Space Complex (opens in new tab) is a new attraction at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and features a replica of the second ascent and entry suit selected by Boeing. The "Boeing Blue" garb was reproduced for the exhibit before the public could see the actual spacesuit.
This is the first of its kind within the realm of space and space suits. "I keep on describing my mood as 'over the moon' which I realize is a little on the nose, but I am ecstatic about it," said Adam, who since co-hosting the Discovery Channel show "Mythbusters" has gained a reputation for fabrication of highly detailed costumes.
The spacesuit hasn't made history. It came as a bit of a surprise when Boeing chose ILC Dover's AES. The David Clark Company was selected by the company to provide pressure garments for astronauts on its Starliner capsule.
An example of the David Clark suit flew twice to space on Boeing's two orbital flight tests. Although astronauts have yet to fly on the Starliner, an instrumented mannequin named "Rosie the Rocketeer" was dressed in a suit for the trials.
There are photos of the Starliner OFT-2 test flight.
According to a statement released by the company, the final Starliner test flight will include a crew who will also wear the David Clark suit. Once Boeing starts flying astronauts on NASA-contracted missions to and from the International Space Station, the ILC will be introduced.
The decision to bring an additional Starliner spacesuit supplier online was made in the spirit of commercial human spaceflight. We expect to introduce the new suits during operational missions and are pleased to see the market opening up and allowing more options for Boeing as well as our government and commercial customers.
He thought he would reproduce the David Clark design when he was called to replicate the Starliners suit.
The suits that I used to make my bid were already seen. There is a stark difference in the look of the Starliners suits and this one, but there is not a huge difference in the amount of effort it takes to make one.
In pictures, the evolution of the spacesuit.
ILC has been a provider of eva space suits for NASA for a long time. The soft goods for the suit still worn by International Space Station crew members when they conduct spacewalks outside the U.S. segment of the outpost were provided by the company. ILC and its partners were just selected for a NASA contract to provide the next generation of spacesuits, which will be worn on the moon.
With the rise of the commercial spaceflight industry, I LC took it upon itself to develop its own solution.
When the opportunity came, we were able to make some changes to our commercial offering and just recreate our LEA suit to Boeing's specifications and become a second supplier for them. You will be able to see the replica made of our suit due to the flame retardant cover layer.
Boeing's needs were met by ILC's in-house designers. They had to find a way to do the same with outside sources.
Finding a material to match "Boeing Blue," the company's trademark hue, was the first thing to do.
There is a giant fabric outlet about 600 feet away from the front door of my shop. We got a few samples from other places but our favorite was from that place and we sent it to Boeing.
On the next day, the company approved it.
It wasn't easy, but it worked out that the color was perfect.
The details that make up the suit are recreated next. ILC sent him hundreds of photographs of every angle and feature of the garment, based on his direction, instead of providing a sample suit for him to reference.
They wanted me to destroy the photos when I finished building.
Without patterns to follow or hardware that could be used to cast molds, Savage had to rely on what the photos showed and what could be seen in them. The Integrated helmet is one of the features of the ILCAES.
The faceplate is replaceable, so it is highly maintainable, according to the person.
He's talking about a system in which the visor is part of the soft suit and not a neck ring. The way to seal it is to pull a zip around your neck from one ear to the other. When we looked at the photos, we realized that it was the same thing as a scuba diving dry suit.
I asked my manufacturer if he had a source for the 21-inch seals, because I have a bag manufacturing company. He said that they got the correct pieces because he did.
A pair of rings that look like the shape ofPac-Man's mouth hold the visor in the suit.
We were able to 3D print the frames because I hired a 3D artist to draw them for me. He was able to identify the specific type of screws that are used to hold that visor into the real suit because he works inAerospace. I believe there are over 70 of them.
He said that the real screws have the markings on them. There is a real difference between normal hardware store hardware and what the suit looks like, and that's one of the reasons why it adds to the authenticity of how the suit looks.
The suit's unique design made it difficult to find some parts. The only component that he was able to reuse from an earlier build was the small adjustment knob.
The other hardware had to be new.
The test connector for the umbilical was the part that I had the most fun with, it's different from any of the Apollo or later ones that I've ever seen. It was a lot of fun to look into the photos I had of the same thing.
The suit presented a challenge. There are white star bursts that are simple in shape but need to be placed correctly.
"Not only were there branding concerns, making sure that the graphics we were starting from were as tight as possible to match what Boeing wanted, but the embroidered down both arms is different." It was more than just getting the graphics correct. We had to match the bias on the original to the right one in order to put it on the fabric.
He said there were a lot of factors that had to work together. It was one of the hardest parts about replicating.
The bottom of the boots that are integrated would be out of sight at the show.
The boots are made by San Antonio Shoemakers and are a part of the ILCAES suit.
"That's one of the things we spent the most time on, but you can't see it," he stated. There were pictures of that sole and how it wrapped around the boot. The tread of the boot was exactly replicated by us.
I didn't want to print it in a soft material simply because that is less archival, so I did a 3D print of it and used heat to adjust the sole so it looked a little more like a piece of soft material.
Even though the real thing remains under wraps, a replica is passed for the real thing.
ILC Dover has done a lot for American spaceflight over the past several decades and I wanted to do the best job I could. One of the things I enjoy about playing in the rounds is that I can see the pride in the work of the people I work with.
They are excited and obsessed with space suits. It's nice to share that.
The man was impressed by the work of the man.
It's a pretty accurate representation, I would say. You can see what our suit looks like from that replica.
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