This is what Virgin Galactic wants you to wear in space


Virgin Galactic and Under Armour want you to fulfill your sci-fi dreams.
In a dramatic press conference in New York on Wednesday morning, dancers performed in spacesuits in a zero-gravity simulation and Virgin Galactic CEO Richard Branson donned his new space threads as the companies unveiled their spacewear collaboration to be worn on commercial space flights by "private astronauts."
Under Armour designer Nick Cienski reportedly drew inspiration from both Battlestar Galactica and the sun casting rays on Earth. The full getup includes a base layer, spacesuit, boots, a training suit, and a jacket, reports CNN.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Suits will be customized with country flags and name badges, and feature a transparent inner pocket for photographs of loved ones "who will literally be close to the heart," according to Virgin Galactic. Beyond aesthetics, the suit will help regulate body temperature and provides the space tourists with shoulder pads for comfort and safety during portions of the flight with high G-forces.
Roughly 600 people have purchased tickets — at around $200,000 each — for the nearly 2-hour commercial space flights, which are set to launch in 2020, reports CNN.
The "private astronauts" will pay homage to the scientist who discovered gravity, Sir Isaac Newton, by wearing his words imprinted on the sockliner of their spacesuit: "We Stand on the Shoulders of Giants."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Taylor Watson is audience engagement editor for TheWeek.com and a former editorial assistant. She graduated from Syracuse University, with a major in magazine journalism and minors in food studies and nutrition. Taylor has previously written for Runner's World, Vice, and more.
-
July 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include an extrajudicial detainment camp, 'alligator Alcatraz', and tax cuts for billionaires.
-
5 explosively funny cartoons about the 4th of July
Cartoons Artists take on liberty and justice for all, a terrifying firework, and more
-
Jeff in Venice: a "triumph of tackiness"?
In the Spotlight Locals protest as Bezos uses the city as a 'private amusement park' for his wedding celebrations
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 years
Speed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study finds
Speed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves baby
speed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beat
speed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammals
Speed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its prey
Speed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes