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Spacesuits Before There Was Spaceflight!

 
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Bud Brewster
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Joined: 14 Dec 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 8:22 pm    Post subject: Spacesuits Before There Was Spaceflight! Reply with quote

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The articles Bob has written for his website, Bob's Toy Box Studio, are worthy of being included here on All Sci-Fi!

Like this one, which focuses on those magnificent spacesuits we all loved as kids.
Very Happy
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What The 1950s Spaceman Wore: Spacesuits Before There Was Spaceflight

As the 1950s began, everyone felt that they were living in a profoundly changed world. With a devastating world war in the recent past everyone began looking forward (perhaps because the alternative was so unpleasant).

The emerging optimism let loose new dreams, and one of those was that of space travel. Perhaps the victory against the Nazis and Japan made anything seem possible. Certainly the awful (but awe-inspiring) super weapons of the war (the atomic bomb and the V2 rocket) captured people's imaginations as easily as it fed their fears and anxieties.

The popular culture of the 1950s would offer a science fiction boom that yielded both dreams and nightmares.

An early classic of the 1950s sci-fi golden age was George Pal's Destination Moon. Released at the beginning of the decade it was a refreshingly serious-minded conjecture of what a moon trip would actually be like. Though modestly budgeted it was well made and featured wonderful art by Chesley Bonestell.

One great contribution was the spacesuit depicted in the film. It was a simple but elegant design: bubble helmet, padded suit, magnetic boots. It had a simple intelligence to it that was convincing. Even the bright colors of the suits made sense: they enabled recognition of individuals.

All of Pal's films had splendid visuals and a respect for science, Destination Moon'ssuccess was a good thing for both his later efforts and the genre as well.






The Destination Moon spacesuit lived on: it was reused in other films and serials as well as being used as a template for other films of the era. It's appearance became the conventional representation of what a spacesuit would look and feel like, and its general likeness was soon all over science fiction material in other media, such as pulp magazines and paperback book covers as well as toys and elsewhere.

The 1950s spacesuit helped the general public along on a conceptual path to actual spaceflight. It's important to recognize that by making these ideas tangible, popular culture played an important role in enlarging peoples' imaginations.

And truth be known, when men from Earth actually landed on the moon, the suits they wore weren't remarkably different in basic concept.

Indeed, while other details of spaceflight departed from the visions of the previous decades (multi-stage rockets and specialized landers vs. an elegant single stage vehicle, etc.), the spacesuit was merely different in detail.

Here at Bob's Toy Box Studio we are now at work on several versions of that iconic spacesuit. These will soon be available in three styles. Careful attention is designed into each version to capture these wonderful visions of the future from the past.



_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Mar 27, 2023 10:05 pm; edited 5 times in total
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Custer
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Joined: 22 Aug 2015
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Science fiction magazines had spacesuits of various types, well before spaceflight was a reality — of course, generally the ladies were tough enough to make do with a swimsuit and maybe a goldfish bowl, but the men sometimes were more safety-conscious.

I can't say that this 1938 cover tallies very well with the real thing three decades or more later, and I have no idea why they appear to be on roller skates, but the artist was doing his best, right?



Okay, my copy of that magazine isn't in mint condition, but it's a cute picture. And apparently Raymond Z. Gallun's name rhymes with "balloon," if you're interested.
Wink
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Bud Brewster
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Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I couldn't find a better copy of your magazine, Custer, but I was able to restore and enhance yours pretty well using Microsoft Office Picture Manager and Paint.net. (I'm pretty good, ain't I? Very Happy)



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____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Apr 27, 2022 10:08 am; edited 2 times in total
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orzel-w
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Joined: 19 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 6:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
(I'm pretty good, ain't I? Very Happy)

If you were any better, you'd be dangerous.
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...or not...

WayneO
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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

orzel-w wrote:
Bud Brewster wrote:
(I'm pretty good, ain't I? Very Happy)

If you were any better, you'd be dangerous.

Hey, that's what SHE said! Cool
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Krel
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Joined: 19 Feb 2023
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was watching "It! The Terror From Beyond Space", and I realized that the space suits were different, in that the helmet and life support pack are cloth covered, just like real space suits. I can't think of another 50s/60a film, or TV show that did the same, not even 2001 ASO.

David.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 28, 2023 4:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One thing about the color suits in "Destination Moon" is that they are not the pressure suits. They are an over-suit for the silver pressure suits seen in the early part of the movie.

David.
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