collectSPACE: Messages - Reply to Topic

Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents

Forum:	Free Space
Topic:	GQ: Breaking down spacesuits from movies

Want to register?

Who Can Post?	Any registered users may post a reply.
About Registration	You must be registered in order to post a topic or reply in this forum.
Your UserName:
Your Password:	Forget your password?
Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by perineau: [B]Fun and interesting to watch, but she mentioned that Neil Armstrong "got his astronaut wings before joining NASA" - is that correct?[/B][/QUOTE]
Options	Disable Smilies in This Post. Show Signature: include your profile signature. Only registered users may have signatures.
*If HTML and/or UBB Code are enabled, this means you can use HTML and/or UBB Code in your message.

If you have previously registered, but forgotten your password, click here.

<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="600"><TR><td bgcolor="#000000"><TABLE BORDER=0 cellpadding=4 border=0 cellspacing=1 WIDTH="100%"><TR bgcolor="#660000"><TD COLSPAN=2><CENTER><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#ffffff" FACE="arial, helvetica">T O P I C     R E V I E W</font></CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="arial, helvetica">Robert Pearlman</FONT></TD><TD><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="arial, helvetica">GQ video release <BLOCKQUOTE><I>Dr. Cathleen Lewis, curator of International Space Programs and Spacesuits at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, breaks down space suits from movies including "Star Trek," "Gravity," "Alien," "Prometheus," "The Martian," "Moonraker," "Destination Moon," "Stargate: Atlantis," "Armageddon," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Outland," "Moon" and "Sunshine."</I></BLOCKQUOTE> <center><iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o7T7zxC_kpQ" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen>

David C

I found that entertaining and interesting.

I’d like to add a couple of things though. She was a bit harsh on “The Martian”. The world’s first EVA suit, used by Leonov had a dark visor on the inside that he could move up and down.

The other thing isn’t a specific criticism of Lewis. Loads of people get this wrong, possibly most. No lesser person than Eileen Collins got it wrong in her book, and she obviously knows.

HUD is the acronym for Head Up Display. The design objective was to allow a pilot to keep his (as it was back then) head up and looking outside, rather than having to be looking inside at instruments, thus seeing real threats and avoiding hitting the ground etc. Most people assume from casual non-aeropspace speech that it means Heads-up Display with an “S”, implying warning you of something that’s about to happen, or what’s developing. Is that important? Yes, because it flips the entire concept upside down.

Don’t check this by asking a pilot, 25% of them will get it wrong. Look in a flight manual glossary or an engineering book. If you have a copy of the Shuttle Crew Operations Manual, look in there.

perineau

Fun and interesting to watch, but she mentioned that Neil Armstrong "got his astronaut wings before joining NASA" - is that correct?

randyc

That's an interesting explanation David. I've also heard that the correct name for HUD uses Head and not Heads, but as it was explained to me the reason why the Head is singular is that the pilot using the HUD has only one head. Even for aircraft with multiple pilots using the HUD display at the same time each pilot still has only one head!

David C

No, that explanation it wrong as well. “Luckily” I’m old enough to be pre-HUD, so I remember the development history, and the acronym history.

It’s a grammatical explanation, but the actual reason has nothing to do with linguistics.

quote:
Originally posted by perineau:
...is that correct?

No, he flew the X-15, but not above 50 miles - the USAF qualification limit. Anyhow, back then NASA didn’t award astronaut wings to X-15 pilots, only the USAF did.

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts