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Russian TV shows new trends in space clothing

Posted on: Thursday, 25 March 2004, 06:00 CST

Text of report by Russian NTV on 25 March

[Presenter] A new collection of clothes for cosmonauts to take to the International Space Station has already been made ready: the spring-summer 2004 collection has been designed by Russian couturiers. Beige and green colours are fashionable in orbit this season, but the main requirement for space clothing is that it should be comfortable. Anton Voytsekhovskiy reports:

[Svetlana Kryutchenko, leading designer, captioned, showing samples] Anton, are you ready? Excellent! This is the main item we produce - overalls suited for the conditions in which a cosmonaut works and lives on board the International Space Station.

[Correspondent] Svetlana can dress and strip a cosmonaut with her eyes closed - she designed this costume herself. Here is a zip, here is a pocket for a knife, and here are trendy clasps which have got their own purpose.

[Svetlana Kryutchenko] This is our special know-how. The zip is unfastened and the flap conveniently comes down.

[Correspondent] We shall not specify what the flap precisely enables cosmonauts to do, but it is the task of space clothing to be comfortable and pleasant and not like the suits the Americans have - they started flying in space in blue costumes, and they still wear that colour. And here we have the collection for spring-summer 2004.

[Svetlana Kryutchenko] This season's most popular colours are brown, beige and green. The first millionaire [space tourist], Dennis Tito, wore such overalls.

[Correspondent] After his trip, he spent a long time asking officials: let me have my suit; I want to wear it on Earth, too. This is not the first such case: people get accustomed to good things immediately. After one wears space trainers, one does not want to even look at ordinary trainers.

[Svetlana Kryutchenko] We have chosen them to meet special requirements: they should be made of genuine leather to enable the feet to breathe and the arch-support should be good.

[Correspondent] The last thing to pack is underwear - blue, white, red or striped. They will pack any colour that the cosmonauts want. They do miss bright colours in space.

These photos are never shown to male cosmonauts - the underwear for women in orbit. There are something to behold.

[Unidentified operator of X-ray machine in white gown, interviewed] We check anything destined for space for foreign bodies.

[Correspondent] Covered with three [plastic] layers, these things undergo a final X-ray check.

[Unidentified operator] There is something there, a foreign body: something resembling a needle.

[Correspondent] We planted the pin to see if it was really so serious. We checked and it turned out to be true. The packages were checked using X-ray equipment for another hour thereafter. Then the clothes are put in an ordinary bag and transported in an ordinary car to Star City. They will be unpacked only in orbit.

[Video shows correspondent putting new space costumes on, a couturier showing details of a new costume; a woman sewing the space suits; trainers; photos of female underwear samples; interviews; packed suits; X-ray display indicating a needle; women carrying a bag.]

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