Unfortunately, the British spacesuit model isn't available for anyone to wear, which is a shame! But it is on display at the Rocket Tower. And apparently one idea for that on-suit airlock was passing in sandwiches for lunch...
Imagine the British knight astronaut getting to the moon and finding the French chevalier astronaut is already there and has drawn up their battle lines
Although the material and structural design were probably severely lacking compared to suits that actually made it to space, it is interesting to see how the British designers really focused on features that would support longer moonwalks and prolonged exploration. A blanket/cape for keeping warm, an on-suit airlock for taking in food and samples. A cane for assistance with walking and even sitting. All we are missing is the “moon steed”. A horse shaped vehicle that the British “astroknight” would ride into space battle.
Perhaps, the space-suit can also include a kind of surcoat (or something similar) with the Royal Standard or coat of arms of the UK, to really complete the Medieval aesthetic.
Now I'm imagining the Polish space agency sending winged hussars to the moon, or maybe Japan sending a guy in full samurai armour ... Or a fully medieval jousting contest in near 0-G!
I like the idea of the chest airlock for grabbing space stuff to look at, and I'm extremely glad that no one got to try it on the moon. The theoretical British Astronaut would have found himself in quite the horrible situation once the moon dust was introduced into his environment, along with the rock. An excellent design for the time, really. We just didn't know that it was a terrible plan to be in the same space as moon dust. No moonrocks through the airlock. Only clean tools and sandwiches.
It's extremely fine, gets everywhere, is extremely abrasive and irritating to the skin, and acts like asbesdos dust in your lungs. Moon dust is extremely sharp because there's no weathering on the moon@@King-ts4es
@@edopronk1303 A member of that Interplanetary Society, Arthur C. Clarke, actually has the problem of tea (usually) not being very good on the moon as a peripheral point in one of his books, A Fall of Moondust.
Only the British would think "Y'know what astronauts need? A space cane!" Just in case you need a little relief from walking on the moon. It's amazing but also ridiculous.
...after walking around in 1/6 gravity, do you really need to rest your legs?... I like the airlock though for grabbing your cup of tea and crumpets out of the space pack.
that honestly looks like a prototype power armor. almost like the logical step up from this would be fallout power armor. but holy hell that is the coolest thing I've seen in a while,a LITERAL moon knight
obsessed with the blistering Britishness of "if youre going to the moon you'll need a suit of armour, and also a chair to rest your legs when you're waiting in some kind of Moon Queue"
@@TechyBen *reaches hand into chest hatch and produces a teapot and cups* This feels like Jules Verne era science fiction. I'm having a great time right now.
Winston Churchill once ascribed all his achievements to "economy of effort": "Never stand up when you can sit down. Never sit down when you can lie down".
This is one of the most distinctively British things I've ever seen ! a medieval inspired helmet and a walking stick.I can't express how much I absolutely love this! You see so many depictions of Steampunk. The Victorian era very much inspired the genre. But this is pullEd from the pages of History. And it even goes as far as I said and makes it so very distinctly British.
it has a walking stick that also doubles as seat in case you want to take a break and have a sandwich. and a cape in case some cold breeze comes over the crater.
i love that the AI, rather than necessarily predicting any titles you could use, has inspired people to contact Tom and give him stories to tell that are almost like what the AI came up with, but not quite
I now desperately need the BIS to make another one that’s designed for modern lunar landings. Just imagine what it could look like. Oh, and of course, the cape stays.
US and the Soviet Union: "Hey, let's make an advanced space suit specifically design to withstand the extreme conditions in space!" Britain: *"Space knight!"*
God, that suit is the coolest thing I've seen in a while. Imagine British astronauts wandering about the surface of the moon looking like knights in full plate armour.
@@aceb7638 oh I can totally see Naird and the rest running around the moon in that thing(don't ask why Naird as I don't think he'd EVER actually go up) that would be hysterical as I can totally see it having similar reasons for happening to the shitty exolegs or the uniform redesign madness 🤣(REAL spaceforce however oh god ....that's just what they need more reasons to not be taken seriously "WE ARE THE SPACE KNIGHTS!" I mean the things badass....but ....spaceknights would not be a good look for spaceforce)
@@MindinViolet Did you know what that suit reminds me? It's the Homo Ludens suit that you can see from Kojima Productions opening reel. I can see some similarities
I had no idea of this. Thanks yall; for making this video, for him making the suit, for them back in day for making the orginization. And gotta say, a space knight? How very, very, awesomely British.
Astonishing! I can only imagine what the moon rocket would have looked like. With British ideas of practicality, I wonder what novel life support mechanisms would have been inside it?
I like your idea but sadly reality is more mundane, they were probably like "here is the space suit of the british peep, you can't wear it but we have a replica you actually can"
Imagine spending so much money making a suit and rockets just to get to the moon and seeing a British Space Knight sat there on his stick drinking a cuppa
The British colonizing the moon by sending a full knight with a cape to leisurely walk around and take sit down breaks on a cane-chair to admire rocks is a special timeline we're lucky enough to only imagine. Next time we put a hairless ape on a space rock we should definitely give 'em a cape and a lawn chair.
The successor to this was the Windak suit, which looks more like a Gemini suit. It also never went to space, but it ended up being used as a film prop for things like doctor who and star wars. There's a brilliant picture of someone riding a bike while wearing it, so they could test the mobility if it under pressure
oi oi, this be our land, see that flag? by being 'ere, you vialate ev'ry law in space you filthy colonist *shoots him* (under his breath) the sun never sets on the bri'ish empire
So,...the next 'Iron Sky' film. Perhaps as a prequel where the attack failed & to avoid the embarrassment of another Dieppe (or Gallipoli, if you want to go back further into historic failures), the U.K. didn't reveal its knowledge of the Nazi base to anyone else,... probably figuring the bad guys wouldn't survive for long after the war was over without support.
@@EvilGremlin100 You think people don't get tired in space? Don't be silly. They wouldn't just be "walking about". Even if you did just walk about in space imagine doing it for an entire day. You wouldn't get tired?
When I saw that illustration of the guy in the space suit, I immediately thought of the Space Marines in Warhammer 40K. Then I remembered that the Emperor of Mankind actually would've been alive at that time in the lore.
Capes are earned. Capes are a physical reminder of Hero 1's sacrifice in the Rikti War. And if you're a villain, you earn your cape by beating a hero unconscious and taking theirs.
I love how it’s built reminiscently of a suit of armor, it even has a cape! The British really planned for space combat, while Americans and Russians would try to use guns Britain just outright made a suit of armor and probably planned on giving them a sword too
"have fun trying to use your guns in zero atmosphere. But guess what? Swords are very, very effective when there is only a rubber layer between you and space" note- bullets have oxidizers, so they can shoot in space. But this is the case NOW. 1940's bullets? Especially 1940's Russian bullets? I have no idea.
@@lemeres2478 I think the Russians had a plan to make theirs shoot too but I’d have to look into it, cuz all I know is they wanted to give their cosmonauts guns to shoot American astronauts
@@lemeres2478 eeeeh… it depends, most munitions at the time would have probably used cordite, a primitive form of smokeless propellant, most varieties tend to have oxidizers but not all of them; they also tend to foul too much to work for long but they should burn just fine, if very poorly
The British need to make like a futuristic space suit that incorporates a slight knight design, that would be actually really cool and unique. The British would be the crowning champions in space drip
AI: How about "The Long Forgotten History of the British Moon Landings?" Tom Scott: Don't be ridculous, we weren't even close BIS: Well.... not quite, but not far off.
I believe the BIS had some plans to do a full moon mission on totally Solid rocket motors and a shoestring budget, the most kerbal thing I’ve ever heard
Going to the Moon with 1940s British technology would have been _absolutely terrifying_ , but with a space suit like this, complete with knight in shining armour's helmet, silver superhero cape, tea-making compartment in the chest and shooting stick, there is nothing Commonwealth astronauts need have feared. Imagine. You're on the Moon. You unfold your shooting stick, sit down and lean against a rock, pull your arms into the suit, mash a brew in the chest compartment, and relax with a nice cup of tea. And you're on the Moon. Just another ordinary day. On the Moon.
Rights 💀even our tank has a built in kettle the size of a bath and enough teabags to last anyone a month, well anyone but us, if it's Yorkshire Tea it would last me a few days
Not gonna lie that’s the most badass space suit I’ve ever seen… It looks like a Titan armour set from destiny! I’d love to see a set based on this added to the game.
I love that they went to the great effort of making that suit, and making it historically accurate in terms of materials and manufacturing. The suit is essentially artwork, but with great history and culture to it. It's nice as well to know that Britain made efforts towards the space race in those exciting pivotal years.
The walking stick, cape, and knight's helmet, are about as British as you can get. I'm surprised they didn't find an excuse to fit some kind of monocle on to the suit..
We've crossed off "Why No One Will Save Covetithe, the Village that Will Soon Crumble to the Sea," and that also doubled up as "The Cliff that Refuses to Be a Cliff." So it's just a matter of time before "Jeremy Clarkson's Lottery of Death."
The knight-like suit bares a striking resemblance to the Ludens astronaut Yoji Shinkawa designed for the logo to Kojima Productions. I wonder if it had any influence on them.
Interestingly, the "liquid cooling and ventilation garment" that cooled the Apollo space suit was built on a design from a British suit with plastic tubes filled with water, but of course, it's not mentioned on Wikipedia, it is however mentioned in the documentary "Moon machines: Space Suit" about 30 minutes in.
@@alakani - I know that Soviet and Chinese pressure suits used by high-altitude pilots have similar rubber tubings and chambers, you can get surplus ones on Ebay. Not sure how they're holding up in terms of being airtight/watertight, though.
Imagine a British alternate history, akin to computing, where we got there and kept it hush, and then the US arrives and finds a Union Flag and a cup of tea just left there.
But we did! Jet Morgan and his crew (admittedly including the token American, Doc) got there in the 1950s, and even travelled back in time into the bargain. The documentary series was the last radio programme to get a larger audience than TV, and repeats can still be heard from time to time on BBC Radio 4Extra. And don't forget Dan Dare, though by his time we'd got a lot further than the boring old Moon.
that seat thing is the most british thing i've seen in a while. you're on the moon, but you just have to sit down for a cuppa on your camping chair like you're at the bloody lake district
Why not make a new suit that mixes these two? The space knight has so much drip! The cape and helmet are super dope. Imagine the shock aliens will feel when a literal space knight greets them!!
Keep in mind that the suit Tom is wearing and shown behind him is a pressure suit, worn inside a spacecraft. The british knight suit is for spacewalks. The suits used for spacewalks today, are more heavy than the pressure suits.
