The Major Matt Mason Astronaut Need for Air

Old Photoshopped image of me by Paul Vreede

As a kid, it really bugged me that Major Matt Mason figures didn't have air tanks - like how were they supposed to breath in vacuum? When I discovered the Decontamination Gun I only put water in the tanks right when I got one - afterwards it just seemed like the tanks should always be on the figures to give the illusion of an air mix (when in vehicles I argued that they had their own air supplies so no need). I even remember rationalizing that the Jet Propulsion Pak had air in the unit to supply the figures as they flew around the moon. I think a lot of my fixation came from the movie "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" - a big premise of the movie was the need of oxygen so it got embedded in my brain early (I could go into a lot of detail on this movie - worth watching if you haven't).

When you look at the Major Matt Mason astronaut figure there's an air port on the front of his suit (that's the silver square thingy with a round hole) - this comes directly from the prototype suits that Mattel Astronaut suits were modeled from (in the photo below there's a hose connecting to the hand-carried unit in the astronaut's right hand).

1965 ILC Apollo Lunar Suit (early prototype design)

Most of the art from just prior to Apollo would borrow a similar suit design - with flexible accordion-joints between stiffer materials. In all of these images (which I remember cutting out of whatever they were published in or on and keeping in a folder) the suits always had a tank or some other means of providing air.

Alex Schomburg from Amazing Stories November 1964 Cover

1964 DELL Space Man Comic #8

This suit design would continue to be used in actual suits under all of that beta cloth used by Apollo missions so the research wasn't wasted, just a bit inaccurate as varioius artists used the prototype photos to inject a bit of reality into their imagery.

With all the above in mind, Matthew DeWilde recently posted an image from an Eldon Moon Survey kit which featured two astronauts standing on the moon, wearing you guessed it, backpacks. This got me thinking about producing something that would fit Mattel Astronauts - maybe something that combined elements of the Eldon Moon Survey Design, Space: 1999's moon suit and the EVA suits used by Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Eldon Moon Survey: 

The suits depiced are very similar to Mattel Astronaut Suits other than the ackward helmet (covers the bottom part of the face). The backpack is the basic design that I'm going for - something that would fit the good Major and crew without damaging the paint, but would be easy to remove. I like the basic shape but don't care too much for the lack of details - I'm thinking something with additional greebling like maybe an access hatch to either fill or replace the air tank.

Eldon Moon Survey Built Up Kit

Eldon Moon Survey Back Pack Detail Top

Eldon Moon Survey Back Pack Detail Left Side

Eldon Moon Survey Back Pack Detail Right Side

Eldon Moon Survey Back Pack Detail Back Side

Space: 1999 Moon Suit

The Space: 1999 Moon Suit has some additional elements but is still a very basic design, relying on the front part of the harness to contain sensors, readouts and communication equipment. I like the large number shown on the pack which would correspond with the helmet number, to easily identify Astronauts from a distance. (I scabbed the top three shots - they're from a custom figure handmade from a Space: 1999 fan).

The Space: 1999 Moon Suit Left Side

The Space: 1999 Moon Suit Right Side

The Space: 1999 Moon Suit Back Detail

Space: 1999 Episode

2001: A Space Odyssey EVA Suit

The EVA pack combines both air and maneuvering jets - I love the design but I don't think the jets are really useful on the moon. I may borrow some of the elements though.

2001: A Space Odyssey EVA Suit Pack (from a detailed toy)

Thoughts on this idea? I'm only in the beginning stages of the design - my plan is to model it in 3D using measurements from an MMM figure then produce a mold. I'll post periodically on whatever progress I make on the project.

-- John