Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo in a test flight (Credits: Virgin Galactic).

Source: Rob Coppinger, Space.com.

Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s space tourism venture, has revealed details of the suits to be worn by their elite space tourists. The costumes will be similar to the iconic ones worn by Roger Moore and Lois Chilles the 1979 James Bond movie Moonraker.

Branson’s Virgin Group, of which Virgin Galactic is a member, has a history of involvement with and product placement in Bond movies. Branson himself made a cameo appearance in the 2006 Bond production  Casino Royale. The flightsuits, which will be engraved with each passenger’s name, will be significantly different from the cosmonauts’ Sokol spacesuit or NASA’s bright orange space shuttle launch and re-entry pressure suits.

Roger Moore and Lois Chiles in Moonraker (1979) (Credits: MGM).

According to chief medical officer Dr. James Vanderploeg , the final costume will be comprised of a state-of-the-art helmet with a built-in microphone and headphone, a soft fabric interior lining, soft soled shoes, and  an oxygen tank connector in case of an emergency. The suit’s padding and absence of hard edges will help avoid injuries among the six floating space tourists inside SpaceShipTwo‘s business-jet sized cabin interior.

Virgin Galactic , who recently revealed the identity of its first commercial pilot, has scheduled its inaugural flight for 2013.

In the video below, Sir Richard Branson introduces Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo:

One Response

  1. BryanHerrmann

    Flight suits should be of good quality. This type of dangerous missions definitely needs a good quality flight suit. The features mentioned about the above flight suits are awesome.

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