No wonder its pilots needed to wear a special suit! The modern orange ESS space suit that Spaceshuttle pilots wear today was invented for pilots of the incredible Blackbird spyplane you see here.īlackbird can fly faster than a bullet coming out of a gun, and goes through the air so fast that its windscreen heats up to over 200 degrees centigrade - much hotter than boiling water. These top-secret spyplanes flew so high they were almost in space! In the 1950s planes were designed to fly higher and faster than ever before. Space suits were originally developed for Airforce pilots. The picture on the left shows the first seven NASA astronauts, selected from the best Airforce test pilots, to fly on the Mercury space missions that put the first Americans into space. They had hoses on them that were attached to machines that kept them supplied with air and cooling water. The first NASA spacesuits were silver in colour, because scientists thought this would reflect the burning hot sun rays. Although the earliest astronauts stayed inside their spacecraft, scientists knew they needed protection, and so started work on better space suits for these missions. In the 1950s and 1960s, Russia and America got into a race to be the first into space. The earliest suits were made of rubber and cloth and were stiff, bulky and hard to move around in. As pilots fly higher and higher, the air becomes thinner, so they need air to breathe and to support their bodies. Spacesuits were first invented around 80 years ago, for early pilots who wanted to fly really high.
#BUZZ ALDRIN RACE INTO SPACE VISOR BREAKS PATCH#
The Apollo 11 patch shown above is from the first mission to the moon - the lunar module spacecraft that landed on the moon was named Eagle. Patches usually have a picture related to the mission or the spacecraft they are flying on, and they often have the crew's names on them too. Sometimes the patch is designed by one of the astronaut crew. Some space suits attach to a rocket powered backpack, which allows the astronaut wearing it to fly around in space.Īstronaut crews usually have a mission patch sewn onto their space suits. It is a very complicated machine, with air conditioning, heating, air to breathe and water to drink.
#BUZZ ALDRIN RACE INTO SPACE VISOR BREAKS FULL#
Space suits are pressurised, meaning they are full of air to support your body, which is why they look puffed up.Ī space suit is like a tiny spaceship for one. To survive in space you need a suit that protects your body from the heat and cold, and surrounds you with air to breathe. It is very cold, unless the sun is shining onto you - and then, without air to protect you, the rays of the sun would soon burn you! There is no air in space, so there is nothing to breathe.
Space is a very challenging place to explore.
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As specialist retailers of space toys, space dressing up and other fun space stuff, we love everything about space exploration. A children's guide to astronaut spacesuits, ideal research for space projects or homework!Įver wondered why astronauts wear spacesuits? This page will tell you all about space suits, how they work and why astronauts need them.
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