When you get dressed for the day, you have to think about what the weather is going to be like that day and what you'll be doing - Is it cold outside? Is it sunny or cloudy? Are you going to play soccer? Is it picture day at school? Are you going to the library to check out books?
It's the same for astronauts when they get dressed for space. They wear different spacesuits based on where they are going and what they'll be doing there. Will they be exploring the surface of the Moon? Will they be doing science experiments in a space station? Spacesuits are designed to keep astronauts comfortable and safe during their missions.
Check out the activities below to learn more about the different types of spacesuits, and how their design has changed over time.
Live Event
Join us for a reading of Meghan McCarthy’s children’s book about preparing to go to space, Astronaut Handbook. We will learn about different types of spacesuits and what they are designed to do for the people who wear them. After the story, draw along with us and imagine what you would wear if you were living and working in space.
ASL interpretation will be provided during this program.
Fast Facts About Spacesuits
Astronauts need two kinds of spacesuits for their missions. One of them is the launch and entry suit, worn when astronauts launch into space, and return back to Earth, pictured here.
The launch and entry suit is bright orange so astronauts can be seen in the ocean or in case there is an emergency and they need to be seen easily.
The second kind of spacesuit is designed to protect the astronaut when they are out in space, during spacewalks or on the Moon. This is called the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suit or the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU).
The two main parts of an EMU spacesuit are the pressure garment and the life support system.
The EMU is basically a personal spaceship for the astronaut!
Activity: How do Extravehicular Mobility Units protect astronauts on spacewalks?
Best for ages 10 and up with help from a grown-up
Watch astronaut Randy Bresnik explain how astronauts stay safe during spacewalks outside of the International Space Station. The flexible parts of the suit are made from as many as 16 layers of material. The layers do different jobs, like keeping oxygen inside the spacesuit and protecting from space dust.
Then watch museum educators Marty Kelsey and Beth Wilson as they demonstrate how to create a spacesuit to protect a potato, or the Taternaut!
You can do the activity at home too!
Materials You'll Need:
- Two potatoes
- 1 pin punch (available at hardware stores)
- 1 wrapping paper tube or poster shipping tube
- Tin foil
- Gold foil (optional)
- Other layering materials (e.g. cloth, tissues, wax paper, printer paper, etc.)
- Tape
- Markers (optional)
Step 1: Test out what happens to the Taternaut when it's not wearing a protective spacesuit.
- Lay potato #1 on the floor.
- Rest the end of the drop tube on the potato, and hold the punch at the top of the tube.
- Drop the punch so it will fall onto the potato. This is mimicking a micrometeroid, which is a small fragment from a comet or asteroid that is smaller than a grain of sand.
- Lift the drop tube and investigate the damage to the Taternaut.
Step 2: Create a multilayered spacesuit for your Taternaut.
- Wrap potato #2 in layers of material. Note what order you put the layers, and whether you are wrapping tightly or loosely.
- Use tape to hold each layer closed around the potato.
- After the outer layer has been added, use a marker to personalize your Taternaut.
Step 3: Test your spacesuit.
- Lay your Taternaut on the floor and drop the punch through the tube the same way you did for potato #1.
- Observe what damage the punch causes on the outer layers of your spacesuit.
- Unwrap the spacesuit layers and observe the damage to the Taternaut.
- Compare the damage on your Taternaut (who was wearing the suit) to the damage on the unprotected Taternaut from the demonstration.
Think about it:
- Did your Taternaut experience visible damage on the outside of its spacesuit?
- Did your Taternaut experience damage that was visible once the spacesuit was removed?
- What could you do to improve the suit’s ability to protect the Taternaut from impacts with space debris?
Spacesuits Past, Present, and Future
1958 - 1963
NASA's first spacesuits were for the Mercury mission. They were modified from Navy high-altitude pressure suits and were designed to be worn only inside the spacecraft. Pictured here is the first American spacesuit in space, worn by astronaut Alan Shepard.
1965 - 1966
The next generation of spacesuits were designed to protect astronauts outside of the spacecraft, during the Gemini program. A hose connected the astronaut to their spacecraft - this is how the astronaut breathed oxygen!
Pictured here is astronaut Edward White II on the first American spacewalk in 1965.
1967 - 1972
The next spacesuits developed were for the Apollo program so they had to do things that previous spacesuits hadn't done before. They had to protect astronauts while they walked on the Moon, away from their spacecraft.
1973 - 1974
In the first U.S. space station, Skylab, astronauts wore spacesuits like the Apollo suits, but were connected with the hose to the spacecraft like the Gemini suits.
1972 - 2011
During the Space Shuttle program, astronauts wore two kinds of suits, as mentioned at the beginning of this webpage. Pictured here is astronaut Guy Bluford wearing the orange launch and entry suit. The spacesuit used for spacewalks was designed to allow the astronaut to move their arms around better. Astronauts were also able to carry with them a PLSS—a Portable Life Support System—which gave them all the things they needed to survive outside of the spacecraft.
Astronauts on the International Space Station use spacesuits that were designed for the Space Shuttle missions.
For future missions to the Moon and to Mars, spacesuit designers are currently working on new designs to fit more body types and allow for more movement especially for astronauts to do geology work and to study the surface of the Moon. Pictured here is the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU)—the reference design that is being used by companies to design the actual spacesuits that will go to the Moon.
Read a Book about Spacesuits
Written and illustrated by Meghan McCarthy
Best for ages 5 to 9
Written by Alison Donald and Ariel Landy
Best for ages 4 to 9
Written by Sharon Caples McDougle and illustrated by Cristielle Pimenta
Best for ages 4 to 9
Activity: Imagine a mission to Mars—how would you prepare?
Best for ages 4 to 10
Watch this Flights of Fancy Story Time read by museum educator Ann Caspari and imagine along with three friends preparing for a mission to Mars.
Part of their preparation is to think about what they need to survive when exploring another planet.
An important part of an astronaut's spacesuit is the helmet. The helmet provides oxygen to the astronaut. There is a small foam block so astronauts can scratch their noses if they get itchy! The helmet also has a visor with a special gold coating to protect the astronaut from the sun's strong rays.
At the end of the video, follow along and create your own astronaut helmet out of a paper bag.
Materials You'll Need:
- Paper bag that is big enough to fit over your head
- Scissors
- Crayons
Spotlight Story: NASA Spacesuit Engineer Christine Jerome
Meet engineer Christine Jerome, who combines her love of dance, science, and engineering to help develop the newest spacesuits for the Artemis missions to the Moon.
- Christine was a dancer ever since she was in kindergarten. She even wanted to pursue it as a career but unfortunately an illness kept her from dancing when she was in high school.
- While in college, she thought that if she couldn't be a dancer, perhaps she could become a doctor. But then she learned that she really loved physics and math. She decided to study aerospace engineering.
- Christine now works at the NASA Johnson Space Center and lives in the Houston, Texas area.
- Christine's love of dance never went away, so after training hard, she auditioned for the dance team for the professional basketball team, the Houston Rockets. She made the team!
- She balances her job at NASA with her job on the dance team, called the Clutch City Dancers.
- Christine combines her dance skills with her engineering skills through her work as a spacesuit test engineer.
- She uses her movement skills to test out spacesuits to make them more flexible and allow astronauts to have more ways to move around while on the surface of the Moon.
Soar Together at Air and Space is made possible by the generous support of Northrop Grumman.