Under Armour has made the first spacesuit designed to be worn by regular people – and by regular people we mean the super rich folks who’ve signed up for a space jaunt on a Virgin Galactic passenger vessel.
The sweat-wicking sportswear giant has revealed the three-piece threads to be donned by passengers heading into low-earth orbit upon Sir Richard Branson’s private spaceships.
The jump-suits pictured above are made with UA Clone, which the company calls an “auxetic material that forms to the exact shape of the body for a precision fit and zero-distraction feel.”
The HOVR cushioning tech UA places in its running shoes is also incorporated into high-impact areas, like the shoulder pads and neck, to assist comfort when travelling at high gravity. There’s also a bunch of Under Armour’s warming and cooling tech to account for the myriad of temperature conditions future astronauts are liable to encounter on their journey.
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UA is also adding a clear pocket for a photo of a loved one, as well as a patch unique to each mission, which can be detached and added to the flight jacket everyone gets when they return to earth. Cool. And here’s the best part. If you fork over $250,000 for a ticket off our little rock, then you actually get to keep your space costume.
There’s also base-level underwear, which will make some pretty sweet post-flight PJs, and a new take on the traditional space boot (below) packed with the latest UA tech. The Clone tech will provide a precision fit while HOVR supplies the cushion and support.
“I think every single person who goes to space will be delighted with it,” Branson told the New York Times. “I think the whole experience of going to space should be sexy. Our spaceships are sexy. Our mother ships are sexy. Our spaceport is sexy. And for younger people than myself, this suit is also sexy.”
Now we’re just going to find one of those ATMs that spits out all of the money when you feed it a little malware.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
