Nearish future astronaut costume?

[Kerbface]

Hi, I am looking to make an astronaut costume for something, supposed to look like something that might be made in the next 50 years or so, not a NASA one (though if necessary I could remove the NASA logo or put something over it).

Anyway, I was wondering what exact sort of look I should be trying to get and also where I can get parts for it. Most importantly the space helmet. I'd imagine making one myself would be pretty hard, though possible if only I could somehow find a massive round vase/fishbowl or a partial sphere peice of glass or plastic. I've also looked for premade ones online, haven't had much luck.

For the suit I've looked up costumes, found a lot of flightsuits (I'd imagine future spacesuits would be less bulky and more like flightsuits), NASA ones and generic non-spacey ones. I'm not ridiculously fussed about details, I just want the general look. They're usually at least $70 with postage though. Don't know if there's a similar thing that could be found cheaper.

Gloves and boots should be easy to find something that looks okay.

I want to keep the cost of this thing as low as possible, under $100 if I can. Any help would be appreciated.

[astropapi1]

Well, do some research then. You should go for something like the ISS EVA suits, but less bulkier. If you're designing a suit, don't forget realism:

-Where/how is the life support system going to be?

-What is it going to be used for? Will astronauts require a wide vision range?

-How much time will it be used at a time?

Try to improve existing ones, and make them look cool!

I don't know if you're doing a party costume or a science project, but having realism in mind can lead to cool designs.

[Kerbface]

I found an orange coverall (did not know that that was a word for a jumpsuit) for $30 delivered, that seems good. It has a collar but that can be covered by whatever I use as the neck of the helmet. Would spacesuits ever have pockets? Could be useful for holding onto tools in EVA I guess. Else I'll just cover it up with something or take them off. I imagined I would just have a reasonably small pack on the back for life support. Would that be plausible if it's not intended for particularly extensive use? It'd mainly just be an EVA/short distance exploration suit.

Anyone know of some search terms which might yield results for partial or full plastic/glass spheres? All I can think to look for is "fishbowl" and the absolute biggest I could find had a 30cm diameter, and I don't know if a head would fit comfortably in that.

[Awaras]

How about this MIT Biosuit prototype intended for use on Mars? The helmet looks almost like a standard motorcycle helmet...

[Kerbface]

Motorcycle helmet... interesting thought. Wouldn't want it to look too sporty but if I look maybe I could find one that with a little alteration could make a good space helmet.

Also, is that skintight suit a more effective spacesuit than your standard bulky suit? Just wondering in case that's the direction all spacesuits are gonna go.

[Awaras]

The idea is that the elastic suit presses against your body instead of having to inflate the suit with air to the pressure of 1 atmosphere. It is supposed to be much lighter with greater autonomy compared to the present day suits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_activity_suit

[Holo]

I can't see where you fit the air on that suit. Do you just take a really deep breath before EVAs?

[Awaras]

I can't see where you fit the air on that suit. Do you just take a really deep breath before EVAs?

It's not a complete suit, just a prototype for the elastic pressure-holding material. The final configuration would probably have a backpack, something like this:

[ZedNova]

The idea is that the elastic suit presses against your body instead of having to inflate the suit with air to the pressure of 1 atmosphere. It is supposed to be much lighter with greater autonomy compared to the present day suits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_activity_suit

Eh, i wouldn't like having my important anatomy to be squeezed like that.

[Awaras]

Eh, i wouldn't like having my important anatomy to be squeezed like that.

Well, once you are in a low pressure enviroment the pressure of the suit and the low outside pressure would kinda cancel each other out. The feeling should be near enough to wearing casual clothes on Earth. It would probably be unconfortably tight while you are putting it on inside a pressurized habitat.

I believe the final suit should be able to dynamically change the 'squeezing power' as needed.

[Kerbface]

No other ideas on things I could use for an astronaut suit costume?

[Astrobug]

Good space suit helmets are surprisingly hard to come by, as are transparent spheres, unfortunately.

I do enjoy building stage props and the like, though, and might be able to make a suggestion or two. Do you have any idea what you want it to look like yet? Have you sketched anything up? And what kind of crafting supplies do you have on hand if you were to take a DIY approach? (Tools, Materials, Hot glue gun)

Also. While I don't think I'd build it exactly as shown, you might be able to get some ideas from this

[Animal Mother]

Hhhhm, needs more plate armour

[Deadpangod3]

It's not a complete suit, just a prototype for the elastic pressure-holding material. The final configuration would probably have a backpack, something like this:

Needs more boosters

[ShachonianX]

Needs more boosters

Needs more Jeb.

[Kerbface]

Good space suit helmets are surprisingly hard to come by, as are transparent spheres, unfortunately.

I do enjoy building stage props and the like, though, and might be able to make a suggestion or two. Do you have any idea what you want it to look like yet? Have you sketched anything up? And what kind of crafting supplies do you have on hand if you were to take a DIY approach? (Tools, Materials, Hot glue gun)

Also. While I don't think I'd build it exactly as shown, you might be able to get some ideas from this

That's an interesting video but the suit does have a rather 50's B-movie feel to it (which is fair since it's made out of scrap material). I think I'm looking for something a bit more familiar than that, though I might use one or two of those techniques. The helmet looked a bit funny but I do like the idea of using bike helmets for the general shape, that could work. That plastic cover from an old TV sounds hard to come by, I've never seen a TV with something resembling that, and not really the best shape for me anyway.

For what I want it to look like, I'm really not sure about details. I'm kind of just going with what I can find. Most space suits seem to have a lot of tubes going into parts on the front, what are they for? If it's what I think it is, delivering oxygen, why do they need to be on the front? I would have thought they could be more compact and just attatched at the back. Generally speaking I'd want to go for something generally form fitting but not skintight, like the gemini suit. I'll probably add some detailing, maybe some extra satchels for storage and a harness like thing for attatching to the whatever you hook onto if you need to be tethered, and a device on the wrist for general data monitoring and communications with a screen and a set of buttons.

The helmet is currently the thing I'm most unsure about how to do.

EDIT: And it's going to be orange because orange is a nice suit colour and I found a good cotton orange coverall.

Edited May 14, 2013 by Kerbface