NASA Spacesuit identification help

[Propmasters]

From time to time a piece comes our way without any immediate traceable history. This is one of those such pieces.

A NASA spacesuit, I would suggest 1970's style and date.

It is of film quality, with individual hand turned wood dials, metal tipped gauntlets, silk screen patches, metal lined neck ring, etc. It is possible it was made for a Television series but I think the quality is above that. As sourced from within the UK, it would be more likely from a production filmed here but I would not rule out other possibilities.

With the combined wealth of knowledge this forum holds I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions to it's possible production use? If a lead is a positive one then a £50 Propmasters gift certificate shall be awarded.

- David

 

[Amish Trooper]

You seek Larry Young. He is a spacesuit fanatic.

 

[GINO]

Any chance it could be a Superman 2 suit from the moon sequences?
Don't have the film handy to check. Just a guess.


.

 

[Wes R]

That could be since they filmed the first two in England. I bet larry would know for sure.

 

[luke moonwalker]

I had originally thought the same thing about Superman 2, but watched the moon sequence on Youtube... similar, but not the same. There were also no NASA patches. It was the SOCIETY FOR INTERNATIONAL SPACE EXPLORATION :lol

I was also thinking of "From the Earth to the moon"... but don't have shots to compare.

 

[Propmasters]

Hi,

no helmet or backpack.

the assumption is that it is based on the Apollo era spacesuits which at least gives it some kind of time line.

the connectors are not functional, just dummies but made very well out of turned wood.

i have several suggestions to check out, will keep you posted.

many thanks,

- David

 

[Larry Young]

I wonder if it isn't from DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.

 

[Wes R]

If it is that would be a find, especially if you can prove it. It's in nice shape for sure by the looks of the pic.

 

[Larry Young]

It's from something stylized because those metalized gloves and the fixture on the left arm aren't standard pieces, so that rules out something like MAROONED. That bit on the arm should make it easy to identify.

 

[Larry Young]

I was also thinking of "From the Earth to the moon"... but don't have shots to compare.

Naw, those things were made by Kansas Cosmodrome, and were so exact that they probably could have really kept people alive in space. :lol

 

[Propmasters]

I wonder if it isn't from DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.

Larry,

as you come highly recommended as 'the man' on spacesuits, would you mind if I e-mailed you further detailed pictures? just drop me an e-mail direct.

regards - David

 

[Larry Young]

I'm just a rabid enthusiast, no expert, but I'll be happy to help out if I can.

 

[Wes R]

Larry has more space suits than NASA lol

 

[Amish Trooper]

Rabid is an understatement. Larry is what NASA wants to be.

 

[Larry Young]

It certainly seems like I want to go back to the moon more than those guys. :lol

 

[Starfighter29]

It's not that NASA doesn't want to go back to the moon...(trust me, we really do) It's that our so-called president doesn't want to...

 

[Larry Young]

Man, don't get me started. :lol

I wrote about this six years ago, when they were gearing up on the first CEV designs:

Loose Cannon: Issue #65 - Comic Book Resources

Here's the first paragraph: "OK, I blame Nixon for a lot of things, actually. Just because he didn't have a vision for the American space program (pissed because it was Kennedy's task and Johnson and his pals who reaped the economic benefits), he rubber-stamped the shuttle and had Congress OK the bare minimum of funding. So I get the promise as a boy in the late '60s that when I'm an adult, I'm going to be eating fried clams (or something that tastes very much like it) while quaffing my Tang-based screwdrivers at the Howard Johnson's just south of Autolycus. Instead, we get low-earth orbit Skylab in the '70s, 1/200 catastrophe odds for shuttle launches in the '80s and '90s, and the biggest successes are JPL's Mars Tonkas and the biggest failures are NASA's silica aerogel satellite impact in the naughties. And I can't help but notice that I don't live off-planet."

Back to David's suit, I know he says it's not TV and I've never seen this show, but MOONBASE 3 had an American Base in it, so, maybe...?

 

[Starfighter29]

Great write-up, Larry! Needless to say, it has been very depressing here in Houston realizing that they are basically giving us no goals to work towards...which leads to lay offs...

 

[Larry Young]

Yeah, I can imagine. i have a couple of friends who work at NASA Ames who were very relieved they got the same budget as last year and dismayed that they're being tasked with more projects with the same amount of money.

But the economy is crappy everywhere, so you guys keep your heads up.

 

[Starfighter29]

Thanks Larry! The budget, for the most part, is there which is good, but it would definitely be good to know where we're headed.