Friday, November 9, 2007

Closer Than We Think! Space Coveralls (1960)


Due to popular demand, today we have "Space Coveralls" from the March 20, 1960 Closer Than We Think! strip which ran in the Chicago Tribune.
Astronauts will need protection from dangerous radiation, temperature extremes, lack of oxygen, unusual conditions of gravity and other space barriers. Special suits to do that job are now being developed.

Air conditioning is a must. Westinghouse is now creating an individual "package" which maintains steady temperature and has a blower to circulate air. Other companies are devising roomy space coveralls with built-in ray protection and oxygen systems. One protective measure that might be included: Metallic pads on the suits - so that disabled "drifters," separated from their mother ship, can be brought back to safety with a large magnet.

See also:
Closer Than We Think! (1958-1963)
Closer Than We Think! Boytopia (1960)
Challenge of Outer Space (circa 1950s)
The Complete Book of Space Travel (1956)
Mars and Beyond (1957)
Man and the Moon (1955)
Spaceport of the Future (1957)

8 comments:

Matt said...

Tee hee.
Package.

Anonymous said...

That's some of the most fantastically ridiculous-looking paleo-futurism I've ever seen!

. said...

You're not kidding, Aaron. One wonders whether futurists ever stop and ask themselves "Would a sane human being want to be seen wearing this?"

Dennis said...

Wow. That truly surpassed even my wildest dreams of what space coveralls - excuse me - shiny metallic space coveralls with cane assist rockets could be. Truly wildly fantastic.

Anonymous said...

Apparent these are proto-Borg -- check out the Earth in the background, with some giant multi-continental bridge meeting in the Atlantic.

Love the suits, though -- apparently the astronauts of the future will have their hips brokern before they go into space, so they can fit their legs into those cephalopod suits. I mean, check out the guy in the right foreground -- how is it humanly possible for his leg to be connected to his torso... or should I say thorax?

Anonymous said...

Next week: The Jetscalator

Anonymous said...

Wutzke, I was thinking the same thing regarding the foreground astronaut's malformed legs.

These guys remind me of Magique, the mascot of the 1992 Winter Olympics!

Anonymous said...

I never, ever thought anyone would ever be able to design a gay astronaut spacesuit.

I now stand corrected and - not that there is anything wrong with that!