What was once the race to space is now more like a fashion parade.
As seen in the first official crewed mission of the SpaceX Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, the next generation of spacesuits are the most stylish to date.
Elon Musk, the billionaire behind SpaceX, has compared their design to a night out on the town, saying “everyone looks better in a tux".
Their futuristic look, inspired by superhero characters, is a far cry from the earliest models used by the pioneers of space travel back in the 1960s.
They even rival those portrayed in science fiction, and would not look out of place on a Hollywood set.
Here we take a look at some of the most famous spacesuits of the past 60 years – and a few that exist only in science fiction.
Vostok SK-1
Worn by Russia's Yuri Gagarin on his historic first flight into orbit in 1961. The Skafandr Kosmicheskiy, or literally "suit for space" was used until 1963 and was personally designed for Gagarin. Vostok cosmonauts would eject at high altitude on their return to Earth and then parachute the final stage.
Mercury spacesuit
When John Glenn became the first American in space in February 1962, he was wearing a suit essentially based on one used by high altitude test pilots.
The MK IV full pressure suit was developed for the US Navy in 1959, while the Nasa version featured a number of improvements including removing the rubber mask that fed oxygen to the astronaut's face, and gloves with curved fingers to allow them to better grasp the controls.
Berkut spacesuit
Most spacesuits are designed to be worn during the ascent and descent stages of flight and protect the wearer in case of accidental decompression.
For spacewalks, an EVA or extra-vehicular activity suit is needed.
For the first spacewalk, in March 1965, Russia's Alexei Leonov wore an adapted version of the SK-1. It was used just once and for good reason. The suit overinflated once in space, nearly preventing Leonov from getting back into his Voskhod capsule.
A7-L series
As worn by Neil Armstrong when he became the first man to walk on the Moon in July 1969, the A7-L came in three versions, including one for flight and one for training. It was designed to resist the extremes of heat and cold on the lunar surface and its flexibility came from the help of a bra manufacturer.
Nasa turned to Playtex for the hand-stitched suits, and the brand's expertise in women's undergarments was used for the joints. A medieval suit of armour worn by King Henry VIII and displayed at the Tower of London was another design aid.
Versions of the A7-L were worn on all the Apollo and Skylab missions until 1974.
Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Introduced in 1981, this two-piece suit was designed for spacewalks of up to eight hours. For longer walks, it features what Nasa calls a Maximum Absorbency Garment – since no one can use the bathroom in space. EMUs have been on the International Space Station since 2000 and according to astronaut Doug Wheelock it "smells like a locker room."
"Pumpkin" suit
Challenger disaster in 1986, all of which retained the distinctive orange fabric, felt to stand out better against the blackness of space. It was adopted by Nasa for Space Shuttle missions after 1988.
Sokol suit
Introduced in 1973 and still worn by astronauts on the Russian Soyuz to this day. This was the suit worn by the first UAE astronaut, Hazza Al Mansouri last year. All Sokol suits are made to measure, and are designed to protect the wearer against possible decompression.
They were adopted after the deaths of three Russian astronauts in 1971 when their capsule suffered a disastrous leak on re-entry. The suits are designed to fit the seats on Soyuz, which gives their wearer a distinctive hunched look when walking.
'Boeing Blue'
Designed for the Boeing Starliner capsule, which hopes to make its first crewed flight in the new year. Along with SpaceX, Boeing has brought the private sector into space flight. Its blue flight outfit is said to be 40 per cent lighter than the old Nasa suits, and uses zips rather than clips to attach the helmet.
The must-have accessory are the blue and white boots designed by Reebok.
SpaceX Dragon suits
According to Elon Musk, he worked on the design for almost four years, saying it needed to look good as well as work well. The stylish one-piece outfit has a 3D printed helmet with a mechanical visor, built in microphones and touch sensitive gloves to work the controls.
Musk enlisted the help of Hollywood costume designer Jose Fernandez who had worked on superhero films like Batman v Superman and Fantastic Four.
"When people put this spacesuit on, he [Musk] wants them to look better than they did without it, like a tux. You look heroic in it," said Fernandez.
And a few from science fiction ...
Destination Moon
The spacesuits worn by comic book hero Tintin in Herge's 1950 Destination Moon feature the classic goldfish bowl helmet and bear a close resemblance to the Michelin Man character. They are unique in that one was designed for Tintin's dog Snowy, the first canine to go for lunar walkies.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece imagined a lunar base by the turn of the century and flights provided by Pan-Am, the airline that went bust in 1991.
What he did get right was the spacesuits, which would not look out of place on a SpaceX flight. They are so realistic that conspiracy theories believe Kubrick was brought in to fake the Moon landings for Nasa.
One of the suits sold for Dh1.4 million at auction this year.
Flash Gordon
The original space hero hero, Flash Gordon has worn a variety of suits since his creation in the 1930s, including the ubiquitous goldfish bowl helmet.
For the classic film from 1980, our hero was protected by nothing more than a singlet vest and a platinum blonde helmet of hair. Among the early directors rejected for the film was one George Lucas who decided to go off and create his own homage to Flash called Star Wars. Which bring us to...
The Stormtrooper
Perhaps the coolest suit ever, as worn by the legions of bad guys in space combat for the Star Wars franchise. They may look great, but the outfits are surely the most useless ever made, causing the wearer to instantly drop dead when hit by even the weakest ray-gun shot from Han Solo.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Stage 2 results
1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 04:18:18
2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:02
3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:04
4 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates
5 Rick Zabel (GER) Israel Start-Up Nation
General Classification
1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 07:47:19
2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:12
3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:16
4 Nikolai Cherkasov (RUS) Gazprom-Rusvelo 00:00:17
5 Alexey Lutsensko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 00:00:19
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
UAE-based players
Goodlands Riders: Jamshaid Butt, Ali Abid, JD Mahesh, Vibhor Shahi, Faizan Asif, Nadeem Rahim
Rose Hill Warriors: Faraz Sheikh, Ashok Kumar, Thabreez Ali, Janaka Chathuranga, Muzammil Afridi, Ameer Hamza
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
MATCH INFO
Azerbaijan 0
Wales 2 (Moore 10', Wilson 34')
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
If you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.
The hotels
Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes.
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 611bhp
Torque: 620Nm
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Price: upon application
On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPECS
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Results
5pm: Wadi Nagab – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Al Falaq, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ahmed Al Shemaili (trainer)
5.30pm: Wadi Sidr – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Fakhama, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash
6.30pm: Wadi Shees – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Mutaqadim, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 – Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Bahar Muscat, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Wadi Tayyibah – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Poster Paint, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More on Quran memorisation:
Copa del Rey
Barcelona v Real Madrid
Semi-final, first leg
Wednesday (midnight UAE)
The biog
Family: Parents and four sisters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah
A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls
Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction
Favourite holiday destination: Italy
Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning
Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes
Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
