When a sealed, pressurised vessel (say, you) is exposed to a vacuum (say, space), things tend to get splattery. These 15 atmospheric suits from our friends at Oobject are the hallmarks of life-support design from the golden age of exploration.
When you’re done appreciating the pressure suit’s role in keeping our astronauts space-blindness-free, check out these claustrophobic space capsules and some abandoned space technology.
USSR Canine Cosmonaut Space Suit
The suit worn by Laika.
US XM-2 Hypersonic Plane, Pilot Suit
Hypersonic refers to speeds of more than Mach 5. The prototype suit being tested here, in a vacuum chamber full of what are presumably heat lamps was for the X-15 plane.
Spanish High Altitude Balloon Suit, 1935
Polish Wuk-90 Mig Pilot Pressure Suit
Mounted unworn, it looks like a discarded snake skin.
MX-117 ‘Tomato Worm’ Pressure Suit Developed For USAAF Crews In WWII
NASA Apollo, Space Shuttle And 1997 I-Suit Compared
1977 NASA Hardsuit AX-3 Mobility Demonstration
Annotated Space Suit X-Ray
US RX2A Suit, By Litton, 1965
Grumman moon suit
Designed for roaming around the moon, the odd bell shape means that the wearer can retract his arms inside the suit. Note the tie.
US high altitude spy plane pressure suit
Worn by SR-71 and U2 pilots.
1962 Mercury mission pressure suit
US 1960s Prototype Suit
Orland DM Russian Spacesuit Showing Life Support System
US 1934 World’s First Pressure Suit Made For Wiley Post
There were three suits made and only one worked (not this one). The others had a round viewing window, like a diving helmet, rather than this square, welding mask style one.
I’ve used this image, because I’ve already used the other on Oobject and incorrectly, as a diving suit. The Wiley Post suit is where the aesthetics of deep sea and high altitude overlap, before they diverged almost completely.