HANDS IN SPACE—
Smithsonian Folklife Exhibit

The Hands in Space exhibit—designed for science museums and traveling outreach programs—incorporates four astronaut gloves manufactured by Flagsuit, LLC. The gloves are made using Peter Homer's patent-pending design and manufacturing process to custom-fit each one to its owner. For the first time, astronaut gloves are being made just for children.

Based on demonstrations given in local classrooms and at NASA exhibitions in Los Angeles and the Kennedy Space Center, the team developed a portable transparent vacuum-filled box that lets anyone reach into the emptiness of space. It features 1" thick Plexiglas engineered to withstand the full pressure of the Earth's atmosphere.

The new exhibit was introduced as part of NASA’s 50th anniversary celebration at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2008. (See NASA's announcement of Peter Homer's participation in the 2008 Folklife Festival as an example of NASA-derived technologies.)

Over 10,000 people put the prototype exhibit to the test. The pressurized glove is a hit with the public. Once they try it on, it enables everyone – especially children–to quickly grasp the problems of living in space.