Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk hopes to one day colonise Mars.
Firstly, Musk must find a way to reduce the cost of taking people to space. He hopes to do so through space transport company SpaceX.
One small step for man, SpaceX unveiled the Dragon V2 spacecraft back in 2014, which could take to the skies as early as next year.
Musk is hopeful that SpaceX crafts will be shuttling astronauts back and forth from the International Space Station by 2019, before expanding operations in the future.
Despite missed deadlines, Musk has taken a step closer to making his dream a reality.
Musk unveils the SpaceX spacesuit
The Tesla founder has taken to Instagram to unveil a sleek, white spacesuit that SpaceX astronauts will eventually wear.
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By GlobalDataSeemingly modelled on Top Gear’s The Stig, the SpaceX spacesuit isn’t what we’re used to.
Past spacesuits have come complete with bulky, round helmets, plenty of padding and an abundance of wires and gadgets that leave astronauts looking more marshmallow than man.
As the champion of everything futuristic, Musk’s spacesuit provides an insight into what’s to expect from the future of space travel, but did Hollywood get it right?
Prometheus (2012)
Set in the late 21st century, Prometheus’ directors didn’t expect the bubble helmet to fall out of fashion quite so quickly.
If you thought the fish tank-like helmets got it very, very wrong, you won’t be impressed by the skin-tight, rubbery one piece that accompanies it.
Alien (1979)
Set soon after the events in Prometheus, Alien predicts that spacesuits will regress back to their original form.
Big, bulky and complete with a round helmet, Alien spacesuits also come with metal shoulder pads and chest plates to weigh you down in 2122.
The Martian (2015)
Musk hopes to do what Matt Damon has already done by living on Mars. However, he imagines his SpaceX Martians dressed a little differently.
Those in The Martian wore a slim fit golden getup that reportedly impressed Nasa, but failed to inspire Musk.
Gravity (2013)
The spacesuits in use as Sandra Bullock defies the extremities of space to return to Earth on an emergency capsule aren’t too different to what NASA currently uses in terms of design.
Yet, they do seemingly have the remarkable ability to stop space’s strain on the body, seeing as Bullock is able to return from a spacewalk looking more like a catwalk model than a space explorer.
Musk’s suits can’t do that (they can’t even be used outside of a spacecraft, in fact). However, they’re definitely the better option where fashion is concerned.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Back in the 1968s, producers of 2001: A Space Odyssey predicted that our biggest advancement in spacewear would be to change the colour of the suits used in the 1966 Moon landing.
While somewhat accurate, given spacesuits have hardly changed since the 1980s, we’re still waiting in A Space Odyssey’s predicted change in colour.