Submission + - NASA: Why dress casual in space?
andhar writes: If you tune in to NASA TV this week you can see a lot of footage of astronauts doing amazing things like moving giant new space station modules with robot arms, pressurizing new habitats, etc, etc. What spoils it for me is that these astronauts are dressed in goofy khaki shorts and polo shirts. My question: Why doesn't NASA dictate some kind of uniform for astronauts? Really, what is the thought here?
Why not for the sake of materials research into interesting high-performance fabrics? I swear I feel like I must be more high-tech in my running suit or ski clothes than our astronauts are in space.
Why not for the sake of creating a strong and instantly recognizable NASA astronaut identity? No kid wants to dress like his dad already dresses on the weekend, but give the astronauts a snappy uniform and you won't be able to keep a kid out of his genuine NASA astronaut uniform long enough to put it through the wash! Today's kid is tomorrow's astronaut (or budget-making senator for that matter).
What about even just for the sake of having a damn-snappy-looking astronaut corps in space, with a uniform worthy of robot-arm-wielding-death-defying-amazing astronauts?
Why not for the sake of materials research into interesting high-performance fabrics? I swear I feel like I must be more high-tech in my running suit or ski clothes than our astronauts are in space.
Why not for the sake of creating a strong and instantly recognizable NASA astronaut identity? No kid wants to dress like his dad already dresses on the weekend, but give the astronauts a snappy uniform and you won't be able to keep a kid out of his genuine NASA astronaut uniform long enough to put it through the wash! Today's kid is tomorrow's astronaut (or budget-making senator for that matter).
What about even just for the sake of having a damn-snappy-looking astronaut corps in space, with a uniform worthy of robot-arm-wielding-death-defying-amazing astronauts?
