PK-14 Cosmonaut Flightsuit

PK-14 Cosmonaut Flightsuit

PK-14 cosmonaut flightsuit manufactured by RD&PE Zvezda. The suit consists of a jacket and dungaree style sleeveless jumpsuit. It illustrates the type of clothing worn aboard the Mir space station. It was manufactured by Zvezda in the 1990s for cosmonaut training, but has since been mocked-up with patches to match the joint Soviet/British Juno mission – during which Helen Sharman became the first British person to travel into space.

Helen wore clothing identical in style to this flightsuit during her spaceflight mission to the Mir space station. Helen had responded to a radio advert seeking an astronaut, ‘no experience necessary.’ After being selected ahead of more than 12,000 other candidates, she received training at the Soviet Union’s cosmonaut training facility at Star City. She launched on 18 May 1991, forever etching her name into the history of British exploration.

The suit consists of a turquoise polywool double-knit zip-front jacket, band bottom with snap tabs, stand collar, zip-close sleeves and four double-breasted patch pockets with zip-closures. The jacket has appliqué patches consisting of a Union Jack on the left-hand sleeve, Juno mission patch on the right-hand sleeve, and a Zvezda logo on the right-hand side of the chest. The sleeveless zip-fronted jumpsuit is the same colour and made from the same fabric as the jacket. It has stirrup legs, an additional zipper close at the crotch, four front facing zip-close pockets, utility pockets at the bottom of both legs and a back pocket on the right-hand side.