Mission To Mars

Director Brian DePalma, famous for his suspense thrillers, ventured into the world of science fiction in 2000 for Mission To Mars. With an all star cast and in direct competition with Val Kilmer’s Red Planet, released at the same time, Mission To Mars performed reasonably well.

This is the spacesuit worn by Connie Nielsen as Terri Fisher. Each character had a colour code to their suits and yellow belonged to mission specialist Fisher. It was designed by Sanja Milkovic Hays and is very realistically detailed. The thick nylon weave resembling Kevlar is very similar to a real NASA material and the zips have thick pressure seals. The chest pack is constructed from the same material and contains a plastic water bottle and tubes. There is a metal panel to the front with levers and instructions written in English but in reverse! These instructions would have been impossible to read because of the bulk of the outfit, so there is a mirror on the sleeve of the suit enabling the wearer to clearly see what he is doing. This feature is common to real spacesuits.

The large backpack contains all the necessary electronics and mechanics to power the costume. An elaborate ventilation system kept the helmet visor clear and also helped keep the actress cool in what would have been an extremely uncomfortable environment. There are various lights throughout and the helmet illuminates from within. The costume is completed with details like a faux plastic pressure watch and a mission crew patch showing the red planet with spaceship along with the crew members.