The Virtuous Cycle of Imagination: The Expanse Suits Collection
The Amazon collection featuring props from the popular streaming show "The Expanse" is a testament to the power of science fiction in inspiring innovation and imagination. These suits, designed for the characters in the show, are not just futuristic gadgets but also serve as a reminder of the importance of exploring new frontiers and pushing the boundaries of human knowledge.
For fans of the show, these suits represent more than just a piece of technology - they embody the spirit of adventure and discovery that drives us to explore the unknown. They inspire us to think about the questions that we need to ask and the problems we need to solve in order to make progress in space exploration. As one fan noted, "These suits and other things like these from science fiction really are inspirational. They help us to think about the questions that we need to ask and the problems we need to solve before we can do things now."
One of the most striking aspects of these suits is their ability to create a sense of immersion and authenticity. The attention to detail in design, from the impact-absorbing gel to the functional fans, brings the wearer into the world of the show. As one enthusiast observed, "The helmet and the suit that it goes with really tell that story right... You're protected when you're inside of this suit and it's not a big bulky suit - it is heavy but it's not bulky." This level of detail is what makes these suits so compelling, allowing viewers to imagine themselves in the shoes (or rather, space suit) of the characters.
The Expanse Suits Collection: A Symbol of Science Fiction's Impact
The collection also highlights the enduring impact of science fiction on popular culture. From the works of authors like Robert Heinlein, who envisioned combat forces in space, to modern-day shows like "The Expanse", science fiction continues to inspire and influence our understanding of the world around us.
In particular, the Expanse series has brought attention to the importance of ground forces in space, a concept that remains largely unexplored in science fiction. While many shows have depicted combatants engaging with each other through ships alone, The Expanse offers a nuanced portrayal of the complexities and challenges of warfare in space. As one fan noted, "You know war between Earth and Mars is a reality... War with the Belter's is a reality."
The Suit: A Self-Contained Vessel
The suit itself is a remarkable piece of engineering, designed to protect its wearer from the harsh conditions of space exploration. The suit contains everything needed for survival, including impact-absorbing gel, life support systems, and communication equipment. As one fan observed, "It's like a self-contained vessel that protects the space fairer." This level of protection is essential in the unforgiving environment of space, where even small mistakes can be catastrophic.
In the context of The Expanse series, the suit serves as a symbol of both technology and humanity. It represents the best of human ingenuity and innovation, while also highlighting the limitations and challenges that come with exploring the unknown. As one fan noted, "I like to imagine it more for that purpose than than for the military purpose... But in the context of the books and then and in a television show, war between Earth and Mars is a reality."
The Art of Bringing the Suit to Life
One key factor in bringing the suit to life was the exceptional performance of actress Frankie Adams, who portrayed Bobby Draper in the show. Her ability to convey emotion and vulnerability inside the suit made it an essential part of the character's narrative. As one fan noted, "It's hard to imagine this helmet without seeing her face right inside of it."
The attention to detail in creating the suit also extends to the lighting and camera work, which aimed to create a seamless experience for the viewer. The use of little lights for lighting the actor's face and the fans to keep her breath from fogging on the glass demonstrate the dedication that went into bringing this piece of science fiction to life.
In conclusion, the Expanse Suits Collection is a testament to the power of science fiction in inspiring innovation and imagination. These suits represent more than just futuristic gadgets - they embody the spirit of adventure and discovery that drives us to explore the unknown. As one fan noted, "I'm really glad you guys got this in the collection." The collection serves as a reminder that science fiction continues to shape our understanding of the world around us, inspiring new generations of scientists, engineers, and explorers.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey adam savage here at udvarhasi and i am in front of an amazing object matt i know what this object is because i've actually seen it before but tell us what the subject is well you've probably spent more time with it than i have since you know we just acquired it this is um you know the helmet from a suit of goliath power armor from the television show the expanse it was donated by alcon television group and this particular helmet belonged to the character uh sergeant roberta bobby draper martian marine corps sergeant so um the badass yes exactly amazing i love that you guys got her helmet well i love it too um you know i'm the curator of planetary science and exploration that's my sort of main job so mostly what i curate are you know the tools the experiments the rovers the landers that we use to explore planets but i'm also really interested in you know how we've used science fiction books television movies games all sorts of things to kind of imagine what it would be like to have humans on other planets and in particular mars and so bobby draper with with this marine corps helmet and the whole power armor suit are a great example of that and i think it also has this great through line to this old older history in science fiction of imagining these suits if you've ever ever read uh robert heinlein's starship troopers then you know that he has a very full description in that book of what a suit of power armor would be like and how essentially a marine or a infantryman on the ground would be able to have his entire life support system um you know bobby has weapons built into the suit um she has heads-up displays that come up uh that give her information inside of the visor may i right yes go ahead and lift it up a little bit in fact there's a line in in the second book where it says you know a marine has as much information in front of them so that they can see everything except for what's in front of them the heads-up displays give them overwhelm them with information amazing and you know in in the books the the suit is described as being made from titanium and ceramic and weighing close to 900 pounds wow yes and so the only way that the marine can actually function in the suit is the fact that it's computer controlled and that it has actuators built into every joint to every part of the suit and really is able to carry its own weight while augmenting the strengths of the soldier who's wearing it i love the fact that you can look at an object like this from a show from the last five years and connect it to science fiction ideas that are 70 years old well i think that's the incredible thing about you know authors like daniel abraham and ty frank who right under the name james s a corey who wrote the expanse books is that they are very knowledgeable about you know how these technologies have been imagined over time in other science fiction works and so they're very conversant in that language and they you know i wouldn't say borrow from it they sort of you know are part of that same lineage and come up with their own spin right on these things that have been developed for all those years in science fiction it's just on a personal note do you love the expanse oh absolutely isn't it the best it is and you know i think a lot of people feel that way and that's one of the reasons why we wanted to collect this helmet from that series you know um not just because it represents this idea so well but because it's such a loved program so much so that when it was first you know taken off the air off of sci-fi um the fans basically came to its rescue and helped to bring it to the attention of um of amazon where it lives now as a streaming show and you know there's the prop collecting community is so vibrant these days things like this would normally just disappear into a collection so i'm really glad you guys get to put it on display and talk about that virtuous cycle of imagination and how that you know some young person watching the expanse today is it could be an aerospace engineer tomorrow or an astronaut or a conservatory yeah absolutely i mean i i really think that these suits and other things like these from science fiction really are inspirational they help us to think about the questions that we need to ask and and the problems we need to solve before we can do things now i mean one thing from science fiction that still hasn't really become a reality is that a lot of the science fiction dating back from the 40s and 50s and up to today including the expanse imagined combat in space right and imagined that we would need ground forces in space not just ships and so you have all of these sort of very well imagined space navies and space armies you know heinlein had his mobile infantry from the terran army and in the expanse you have the united nations space forces and then you also have the martian uh navy and its marine corps you know ground forces ground troops we just haven't had that in space and you know i'd like to think hopefully we never actually will need that i totally agree but in terms of imagine how you can operate uh safely in space and do more in space i think this this helmet and the suit that it goes with really tell that story right you're protected when you're inside of this suit and it's not a big bulky suit it is heavy but it's not bulky and it contains everything you need to survive like a heavy impact um it has like a impact absorbing gel inside of it which we learned from the books so you know it really is this self-contained vessel that protects the space fairer and so you know i like to imagine it more for that purpose than than for the military purpose but in the in the context of the books and then and in a television show you know war between earth and mars is a reality yeah war with the belters is a reality so you know the suit has that function there now am i right that these two things here are little lights for lighting the actor's face i think there are lights yeah and there are also fans in there too i noticed the fans i thought that was really clever they built the fans in back here to blow across yeah to keep her breath from fogging on the glass one of the things that was key to bringing this suit to life was of course the actor frankie adams who does just such an incredible job of portraying bobby draper in the show and so it's hard to imagine this helmet without seeing her face right inside of it oh so might you uh i think we're going to have some imagery i think we're going to have some imagery with her in the suit because we don't want to just display the suit yeah on its own is there anything about this that surprised you when it arrived when you first got to inspect it in person well i wasn't actually um i had seen some images of it i had not seen it in person and so seeing it in person with the sort of battle scars that it has that definitely had an impact on me you know thinking about the story that's related to the helmet not just the helmet as a piece of imaginary technology but as a part of a story that a lot of people have really come to love yeah matt thank you so much it's such a thrill i'm really glad you guys got this in the collection well thank you amazing\n"
