1) Imagine if Neil and @TheRealBuzz had walked on the Moon wearing the BIS Lunar Spacesuit. Designed by the British Interplanetary Society in 1949 by a team that included Arthur C. Clarke, it was the first real attempt to design a spacesuit for the Moon and even included a cape!

2) The BIS suit had ingenious systems to cope with the harsh environment of the Moon. Pipes supplied oxygen and took away carbon dioxide. A ‘highly-silvered’ outer layer helped reflect sunlight, whilst a refrigeration system and a silver cape helped to regulate the temperature.

3) The spacesuit was particularly bulky, almost resembling a suit of medieval armour. It even housed a personal airlock system in the chest, the idea was that the astronaut could retract their arms from the sleeves to open the inner door of the airlock, allowing them to..

4) ..pick up Moon rocks, put them through the airlock and examine them inside by pulling their arms out of the sleeves. They could even have their sandwiches passed into their suit by connecting the airlock to a lunar base! Even Apollo astronauts didn’t have that luxury. {END}

The incredible 1949 BIS Lunar Spacesuit can be seen at @spacecentre, Leicester. #space #moon #apollo #exploration