I can already hear all the complaints about having the public weigh in on this, and even on the waste of organizing it, but I think this is a pretty brilliant move on the part of Nasa.<p>There's far too little to 'inspire' kids anymore and I imagine far fewer kids saying they want to be astronauts. This does the double duty of involving the public even in a tiny way and of hopefully coming up with a design that moves people a bit as well.<p>Both good things in my book.
In case people comment without scrolling to the bottom and reading the FAQ:<p>"Is the design that is selected going to fly to space?<p>No, as the Z-series is still in the prototype or non-flight phase. The cover layer of a non-flight suit, which is used for ground-based testing, serves as abrasion/snag protection, a cover for technical details, and to a lesser extent, aesthetics. For a flight suit which is actually used for a spacewalk, the cover layer performs many other important functions such as micrometeorite, thermal and radiation protection. These requirements drive selection of specific high-performance materials and design details that would preclude us from using many of the features you see in these options for the Z-2 suit. "
I liked the way the old suits' exteriors looked so much better than any of these ideas. Even the Z-1 they show at the top of the page is so, so much better.<p>As often happens, an instance of designers mistaking their own taste for something that everyone will see as better.
To infinity and beyond?<p><a href="http://wordlesstech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/NASAs-Z-1-new-Spacesuit-1-640x430.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://wordlesstech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/NASAs-Z-1...</a>
What about fast-tracking the skin tight futuristic one being worked on at MIT?<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dava-newmans-skintight-spacesuit-could-be-nasas-future-2013-12" rel="nofollow">http://www.businessinsider.com/dava-newmans-skintight-spaces...</a>
I saw a pretty fly space suit at the top of the page. I saw some very disappointing things that looked like a 12 year old made them with duct tape. I got to choose between those disappointments. I then read that these won't even make it to space. I hereby conclude that this is a pretty bad PR move.
Suits should be personalizable, and vivid for search-and-rescue situations. These grey camo styles are inappropriate. How do I vote 'none of the above'?
Space has extremely high contrast light conditions due to the lack of reflective materials in a vacuum, shadows have zero visible detail. To counter act that effect you'd want an all white suit to help diffuse as much reflected light as possible.
If we're gunning for aesthetics, with a little dye and some extra lighting, that first one might be a decent Garrus approximation.<p><a href="http://silentstephi.com/Misc/garrus14.png" rel="nofollow">http://silentstephi.com/Misc/garrus14.png</a>
Is anyone else missing the text from the page? Chrome 33.0.1750.154 m, no extensions.<p><a href="http://i.imgur.com/a7lfdrY.png" rel="nofollow">http://i.imgur.com/a7lfdrY.png</a>