Vote For Your Favorite Spacesuit Design
Today’s your last chance to influence the future of astronaut fashion.
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This is your last day to vote for your favorite design for NASA’s Z-2 spacesuit—a prototype of what future astronauts might wear someday on the Moon and Mars.
The Z-2 development team at the Johnson Space Center has picked three finalists for how the suit’s outer layer will look, and they’re letting the public help pick the winner. As of last week 200,000 people had voted; you have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern U.S. time today to cast yours, right after filing your taxes.
Option A is “Biomimicry,” with an ocean theme “mirroring the bioluminescent qualities of aquatic creatures found at incredible depths, and the scaly skin of fish and reptiles found across the globe.” Or, you might like “Technology,” which “pays homage to spacesuit achievements of the past while incorporating subtle elements of the future.” Option C is “Trends in Society,” which supposedly reflects “what every day clothes may look like in the not too distant future.”
The Z-2 is scheduled to be ready by November. It won’t actually go into space, so there’s little chance someone will be bouncing around on the moon in 2030 sporting your favorite design. But the suit will be used in vacuum and underwater tests, which NASA will undoubtedly photograph at every available opportunity.