My NASA Mercury Space Suit

[TheBryanScout]

You and Adam Savage are going to have to have a spacesuit contest...

Nah man, Adam Savage's suit could never compare to this one! Adam's is all random and willy-nilly about whose its replicating, but this one is pretty drop-dead accurate to Shepard's suit. That doesn't mean Savage's isn't really cool though. It's flippin' awesome in that respect! His A7L is cool too, but why is there a current era EVA patch on the shoulder when no such thing was worn for a good decade after Apollo 17?!?!

 

[Mr. Nagata]

I took some new pictures of this suit:

More pics here along with my new Apollo suit:

http://www.ryannagata.com/otherstuff/apollo-space-suit/

 

[19narvik40]

Now all you have to do is build the rocket to go along with it.

 

[kczimmy]

This is exemplary work. Masterfully researched and crafted. Congratulations!

Kurt

 

[asavage]

TheBryanScout is right, Nagata's work is far superior to mine. He has a patience with detail that astounds me. But when you're talking about my Apollo suit, don't judge too harshly, that was 12 years ago, and my first crack at real cosplay. It pains me to look at it in some regards, but for the incredible pleasure it gave me to wear it IN ZERO G!

Ryan makes the best space replicas I've ever seen.

 

[Mr. Nagata]

Thanks, Adam. I went on the zero G flight literally the day after you shot that episode of Mythbusters (the instructors were talking about it). I remember thinking during the 1/6 gravity parabola how much more fun it would have been in a space suit. Then I saw the episode and thought that was genius.

TheBryanScout is right, Nagata's work is far superior to mine. He has a patience with detail that astounds me. But when you're talking about my Apollo suit, don't judge too harshly, that was 12 years ago, and my first crack at real cosplay. It pains me to look at it in some regards, but for the incredible pleasure it gave me to wear it IN ZERO G!

Ryan makes the best space replicas I've ever seen.

 

[asavage]

It was crazy fun. And remember we'd weighted our suits to weigh over 200lbs. So at the bottom of the parabola I was like 400lbs!

 

[nick daring]

My knees get wobbly everytime this thread pops up. Such amazing work. Just gorgeous.

Is this jumpsuit on your recreation radar?

or perhaps the undersuit?

 

[LUNA REPLICAS]

Ryan,
Was there a coverall jumpsuit worn on the Mercury or Gemini missions, similar to the Apollo jumpsuit?
-Max

 

[LUNA REPLICAS]

asavage, the pressure suit you flew in the U2 looks very similar to the Mercury-era suit. Do you know how close they are? And secondary, non-scientific question: how awesome was it to wear a real working space suit?

-Max

 

[asavage]

It was AWESOME.

 

[LUNA REPLICAS]

Haha, I will have to live vicariously through that episode for a while. I do however dive vintage Navy diving helmets, so I'll bet it's a similar experience . Anyway, can we expect some behind the scenes gopro footage from that U2 flight by any chance?
-Max

 

[LUNA REPLICAS]

Not to get too sidetracked, always room for an educational moment: some of the first pressure suits were designed by the Siebe Gorman company, long time inventors and makers of "standard dress" diving equipment all over the world. Here is the classic US Navy Mark V diving suit, as used from 1915-today, the great grandfather of the Mark IV pressure suit.


-Max

 

[Mr. Nagata]

No plans to do that splashdown jumpsuit. The Mercury undersuit looked kind of like an off-the-shelf union suit with patches sewn in (I've found pretty similar union suits on eBay). I'm not 100% sure what those patches were. I'd always assumed they were related to the biomed sensors, but that's just a guess.

My knees get wobbly everytime this thread pops up. Such amazing work. Just gorgeous.

Is this jumpsuit on your recreation radar?
http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=518831&stc=1

or perhaps the undersuit?
http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=518837&stc=1

 

[LUNA REPLICAS]

Those patches are strange, they don't look like they're hooked up to anything. Could they just be for cushioning, or air flow?

-Max

 

[nick daring]

In the the book "Spacesuits: The NASM collection" there is a small passage about the under suit-
"It was worn with a cotton "long-john" type garment underneath, which had Trilock coil spacers in strategic places on the torso, thighs, and upper arms to permit air flow to the skin."

For what it's worth, here's the reference I have saved in my Mercury folders for the undersuit-
View attachment asd.bmp

Also here is the undersuit that Global Effects makes-

 

[LUNA REPLICAS]

Great research and photos.

-Max

 

[srosefx]

Out of respect for the craftsmanship for this gorgeous suit, i though it best to suitibly age and colour correct the Photograph.
Enjoy.
Out of interest did you use Nylon or Vinyl ?

Simon
www.simonrosefx.com

 

[edward land]

Mr. Nagata. From my experience, I would test fit my suit wearing only a tshirt and shorts (no under padding). I could last about 20 minutes inside the house before I started to overheat. My only long term outing was walking around West 0Hollywood for the Halloween carnival. I wore a long sleeve Tshirt, Cargo shorts and my home made cooling vest. That set up worked well. The vest gave it the puffyness and provided the cooling.

Im not sure about the type of fabric you are going to use, but my suit is made out of white non breathable dense synthetic material. It doesnt breathe at all. So all the body heat gets trapped inside once its zipped up. On my helmet, I didnt get the chance to play with any sort of cooling and would just flip up the visor to defog.

 

[edward land]

you have greatness in your replica spacesuits. living in west Hollywood ca. how did I miss you in the Halloween Parade.
do you have pics to share?

eddie land