Why Are Spacesuits White?
Curiosity Weekly
Warner Bros. Discovery
4.6 • 964 Ratings
🗓️ 13 November 2020
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Learn why spacesuits are white, and how to avoid drama by breaking the Karpman Drama Triangle. Then, test your podcast knowledge with this month’s Curiosity Challenge trivia game.
Why are spacesuits white? By Cameron Duke
- Harry Jones. (2009, July 12). Spacesuit heat rejection loads on the moon and Mars, W. ResearchGate; ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Spacesuit-heat-rejection-loads-on-the-moon-and-Mars-W_tbl3_288944210
- LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER: Temperature Variation on the Moon North Pole Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature. (n.d.). https://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/lithos/LROlitho7temperaturevariation27May2014.pdf
- Massina, C., Klaus, D., & Sheth, R. (2014). Evaluation of Heat Transfer Strategies to Incorporate a Full Suit Flexible Radiator for Thermal Control in Space Suits. https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2346/59691/ICES-2014-89.pdf
- Why are EVA suits white? (2020). Nasa.Gov. https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/eva/white.html
- Cool Spacesuits NASA SUMMER OF INNOVATION. (n.d.). https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/544886main_LS5_Cool-Space-Suits_C1.pdf
To Avoid Drama, You Need to Break the Karpman Drama Triangle by Mae Rice
- How to Ditch the Drama in Your Relationships. (2018). Greater Good. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_ditch_the_drama_in_your_relationships
- Karpman, S. (1968). Fairy tales and script drama analysis. Transactional analysis bulletin, 7(26), 39-43. https://www.karpmandramatriangle.com/pdf/DramaTriangle.pdf
- The Official Site of the Karpman Drama Triangle. (2014). Karpmandramatriangle.Com. https://www.karpmandramatriangle.com/index.html
Episodes referenced in Curiosity Challenge Trivia with Collin:
- https://www.curiositydaily.com/why-the-mantis-shrimp-can-punch-so-hard-without-damage/
- https://www.curiositydaily.com/earths-atmosphere-may-be-rusting-the-moon/
- https://www.curiositydaily.com/3-mythological-creatures-that-were-inspired-by-real-fossils
Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Ashley Hamer and Natalia Reagan (filling in for Cody Gough). You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-are-spacesuits-white
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Curiosity.com. |
| 0:07.0 | I'm Ashley Hamer. |
| 0:08.0 | And I'm Natalia Reagan. |
| 0:10.0 | Today you learn why space suits are white and how to avoid drama by breaking the |
| 0:13.7 | Cartman drama triangle. Then test your podcast knowledge with this month's |
| 0:18.0 | Curiosity Challenge trivia game. Let's satisfy some curiosity. |
| 0:21.8 | Picture an astronaut. Let's satisfy some curiosity. |
| 0:25.0 | Picture an astronaut. What do you see? |
| 0:26.0 | Probably a big round helmet, a bulky space suit, |
| 0:29.5 | and hefty boots and gloves, |
| 0:31.5 | and almost all of it, from the top of the helmet to the soles of the |
| 0:34.7 | moon boots, is white. |
| 0:37.4 | Space suits have always been white. |
| 0:39.7 | With some of the greatest minds in technology and design working on this, how has no one suggested another color? |
| 0:46.6 | Well, it turns out that spacesuits are white for a very good reason. |
| 0:51.1 | The spacesuit you probably pictured is called an EVA suit or extra vehicular activity suit. |
| 0:57.6 | And it will always be white, regardless of the country the astronauts come from. |
| 1:03.0 | It's not simply so it stands out in photos, and it's not because it's a classic looking style. |
| 1:08.2 | It's all about heat rejection. |
| 1:11.2 | The suit is white so it can reflect as much light and therefore heat as possible. |
| 1:17.0 | Now I know what you're thinking. Space is cold. Shouldn't the suit retain heat to keep the astronaut warm? |
| 1:24.0 | And you're right, space is cold. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Warner Bros. Discovery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Warner Bros. Discovery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.