宇航服的时尚变脸

    ILC多佛公司（ILC Dover）是一家位于特拉华州乡间的工程公司。五十年来，这里一直在为每一位宇航员提供装备——从尼尔•阿姆斯特朗到2012年在国际空间站外进行太空行走的苏妮塔•威廉姆斯。然而这次的最新任务ILC【创立时名为国际橡胶公司（International Latex Corp.）】以前却从未接手过：为美国国家航空航天局（NASA）制造时尚前卫的宇航服。

    这一新装的原型名为Z-2。2013年早些时候，NASA公布了由费城大学（Philadelphia University）时尚和工业设计专业的学生设计的三款宇航服，其中一款将作为新宇航服使用，而选择权交给了公众。这三款设计分别采用了以下主题：NASA的历史、体育运动与超级英雄、大自然。NASA的官员希望这次活动能够重新点燃人们对空间项目的热情。NASA的顶级太空服工程师艾米•罗斯说：“决定采用时髦宇航服的部分原因在于商业太空飞行正在升温，另一部分原因是他们也希望自己的太空服看起来酷一些。”（财富中文网）

    译者：严匡正   

    For five decades ILC Dover, an engineering firm in Delaware farm country, has been outfitting astronauts for space -- everyone from Neil Armstrong to Sunita Williams, who performed a space walk outside the International Space Station (ISS) in 2012. And yet ILC (which was founded as International Latex Corp.) has never before embarked on its latest mission: to make a fashion-forward suit for NASA.

    The prototype is called Z-2. A new palette will be chosen when, early this year, NASA unveils three designs by Philadelphia University fashion and industrial design students. The public gets to pick a winner. Each design will draw on one of three themes: NASA's history, sports and superheroes, and nature. NASA officials hope that the campaign will rekindle excitement for the space program. "Part of this came from the fact that commercial space flight is gearing up," says Amy Ross, a top space-suit engineer at NASA, "and part of what they want is for their space suits to look cool."