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US sportswear brand Under Armmor has designed the space uniforms and shoes that Virgin Galactic pilots will wear for its first commercial spaceflight later this month.
According to the brand, the empty space is designed to make the pilots feel confident in ensuring they are sufficiently understated to avoid distraction.
While each one-in-one suit is tailored to the intended pilot, they are all made of royal blue material with black panels under the arms, above the feet and running along two sides the body.
The suits are made from hard grade knitted fabrics that are as light as possible – with each garment weighing just over one kilogram.
Shoulder cushioning offers comfort as pilots are held in place by straps while sitting in no gravity. This also supports the pilots during a boost, when the forces press them back into their seats.
“A pilot flight suit has been refined over the decades to incorporate a certain undeniable look and function, but they have to perform beyond expectations as well,” said Randall Harward of Under Armmor.
“We took that as a starting point and incorporated all of the Under Armor solutions we’ve developed for comfort, support, movement and temperature control.”
“Our goal was to build a suit that leaves a pilot – like any athlete – feeling confident and free of distractions during a crucial moment of performance. It’s been a fascinating journey.”
Under Armor was given a brief to create a weightless space outfit that reflected the pilots’ role in the space mission and practically supported their task.
Top pilot Dave Mackay and pilot CJ Sturckow will be wearing the space suits and boots on future flights, including his first commercial space lights that will fly private astronauts – astronauts on unsupported space lights by a government agency – into space from Spaceport America in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
This mission is expected to take place later this month, with the flight window opening on December 11th 2020.
As Virgin Galactic’s technical spacewear partner, Under Armmor has designed other astronauts clothing pieces for the company, including similar suits designed for private astronauts.
Although the clothes were visually similar, it was important for the sportswear brand to set the pilots’ suits apart from those worn by future astronauts to help highlight their roles play them in the space lights.
“A common color palette intensifies the fact that pilots and customers are all part of one crew. But adding black within the pilot spacecraft, sets the pilots a little apart and reminds us that the destination of all flights is air black space, “said Virgin Galactic.
The pilots spacecraft also includes the Virgin Galactic pilot’s wings emblem.
Under Armmor also created the 3D knit covers for the seats in the interior cabin of the Virgin Galactic SpaceshipTwo craft, designed in collaboration with London studio Seymourpowell.
The craft was designed to take six passengers on a sub-orbital flight into space to see the Earth and experience several minutes of weightlessness at $ 250,000 per seat.
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