Spacesuit: A History through Fact and Fiction

by Brett Gooden

Recipient of the American Astronautical Society's 2012 Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature AwardThe space suit is an icon of space flight. It is the very symbol of interplanetary exploration – of pioneering adventure, of excitement and danger, and of man’s quest to learn more of other worlds.This book follows the remarkable history of the space suit through science fiction and fact. With an absorbing blend of drama and detail, Brett Gooden explains how this seemingly impossible dream gradually evolved into the complex suits of today and how the quest continues for the ‘Mars and Beyond’ suits of tomorrow.Man has dreamt of flying into space and walking on other planets for hundreds of years. But the risks to the human body involved in making this a reality only were only first recognized when, in the 1800s, an adventurous few climbed high mountains and took the first tentative steps into the sky under hydrogen filled balloons.Gradually it became clear that to leave the earth’s atmosphere and gravity, our frail bodies would need protection from many dangers. Jules Verne, in his epic novel Around the Moon in 1872, recognized this need and was one of the first to suggest that some form of suit, similar to that used by deep sea divers, might allow his space voyagers to venture safely into the vacuum outside their spaceship.In the period between the World Wars, daring pilots, competing with each other, ventured higher and higher into the thinner atmosphere. They challenged the physiologists and engineers to provide them with special suits to achieve this goal.At the same time, cheap pulp fiction magazines pumped out colorful adventures of humans in space. Their eye-catching cover illustrations became the archetypical feature of these ‘pulps’ and allowed artists to give vent to their wildest fantasy. Nevertheless, their inventive dreams for space suits fed back to the scientific community. Fiction influenced fact. Complemented by astonishing and detailed illustrations, this book unlocks the seemingly impenetrable secrets of how the space suit was made into a practical and essential device. How simple everyday items such as the car tire, the caterpillar and the concertina provided critical clues that eventually brought the space suit to reality. This is the fascinating, extraordinary and often bizarre story of the Space suit – through Fact and Fiction.

129 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 19, 2012

Reviews

[Adam Gardell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and informative. I learned a lot about he history of space suit development, which was exactly my purpose in reading this book. So checkmark there for filling its role. Key takeaways for me are:
1) Material selection/ technology is key
2) Joint selection/ technology is key
3) The attention to detail when designing modern space suits is impressive. Every last accommodation must be made to sustain the life functions that we so often take for granted.
On another note, I enjoyed seeing how science fiction has influenced and been influenced by the design of functional space suits. A final point is that I found the technical information to be enough for this overview of many different suit technologies.

[iain meek · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting primer in the development of the spacesuit from a converted diving suit to those on the ISS and a return to the Moon or for Mars. Sufficient technical information for a primer. Plenty of illustrations, many from the world of science fiction which certainly brighten up the narrative.