214 spacewalks have taken place since 1998, all of which had at least one male astronaut.
With Elon Musk recently unveiling the first image of a new space suit developed by SpaceX, here's a look at some of the iconic space suits from famous movies. Musk might as well take some notes.
WASHINGTON: NASA's plan to conduct the first all-female spacewalk this month had to be scrapped after the crew aboard the International Space Station encountered an unexpected setback - the lack of well-fitting spacesuits, the US space agency said.
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch were scheduled to conduct the historic spacewalk on March 29 to install powerful lithium-ion batteries for one pair of the station's solar arrays.
Since the space station was assembled in 1998, 214 spacewalks have taken place, all of which had at least one male astronaut.
However, after McClain conducted her first spacewalk on March 22, she realised that a medium-size hard upper torso - essentially the shirt of the spacesuit - fits her best.
Since only one medium-size torso can be made ready by March 29, Koch will wear it, the US space agency said in a statement.
McClain now is tentatively scheduled to perform her next spacewalk on Monday, April 8 with Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques.
These will be the 215th and 216th spacewalks in the history of International Space Station assembly and maintenance. During the first spacewalk of the series, on March 22, McClain became the 13th woman to perform a spacewalk. Koch will become the 14th on March 29.
No difference exists in a male's or female's suit, but female astronaut usually require a smaller size.
The shuttle spacesuit was designed to be made of many interchangeable parts, to accommodate the large number of astronauts with widely varying body sizes. These parts (upper and lower torsos, arms, etc.) are made in different sizes.
The body measurements of each shuttle astronaut are taken and recorded. Then the measurements are plotted against the size ranges available for each spacesuit component, according to NASA.
The suit components are then assembled. Training suits are usually assembled nine months prior to flight, and flight suits are usually assembled four months prior to flight.
We do our best to anticipate the spacesuit sizes that each astronaut will need, based on the spacesuit size they wore in training on the ground, and in some cases astronauts train in multiple sizes, said Brandi Dean, spokeswoman of the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
However, individuals' sizing needs may change when they are on orbit, in response to the changes living in microgravity can bring about in a body.
In addition, no one training environment can fully simulate performing a spacewalk in microgravity, and an individual may find that their sizing preferences change in space.
From 'Armageddon' To 'Interstellar', Some Inspiration For Elon Musk’s New Space Suit
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Suit Up!
With Elon Musk recently unveiling the first image of a new space suit developed by SpaceX, here's a look at some of the iconic space suits from famous movies. Musk might as well take some notes.
'The Martian'
The space suit that helped Mark Watney survive Mars was the result of the filmmaker's collaboration with NASA to design the costume. While it was quite close to the real deal, the movie suits are slimmed-down and less puffy. Director Ridley Scott also reportedly liked the idea of using orange in the suits, given the reddish-orange hue of Mars.
'Armageddon'
The 1998 science fiction film actually used realistic suits when the characters were training in a dive tank at NASA. They were later seen in NASA's Advanced Crew Escape Suit during the launch. However, the suits they wore while on the asteroid are fictional - designed for ground missions, carrying thrusters to keep spacemen grounded in a low-gravity environment.
'Interstellar'
Cooper and his team of astronauts explored the deep space and unknown worlds wearing space suits that ook plausible and realistic. The suits have forearm-mounted thrusters which help astronauts brake when jumping off planetary cliffs. However, the suits don't feature any tank large enough to store a reasonable amount of compressed gas that is used in the thrusters.
'Iron Man' Armour Mark 45
When Tony Stark joined the Guardians of the Galaxy, he created a sophisticated armour that could withstand space and all the action up there. This armour is powered by numerous Repulsor Tech cores, like the one once implanted in Stark's chest. It is equipped with a new AI called PEPPER that can take over the suit in case of an emergency. It also has the 'Stark Omniversal Multitasking Software', which allows its user to control other suits of armour located on Earth from light years away.
