Apollo 13’s special effects supervisor, John Palmer, has designed an 11-layer spacesuit for the actor, wearing which he will start training at NASA for his next
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 4, 2017)

Mirror (April 22) had reported that Sushant Singh Rajput will head to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) towards June-end as part of his prep for Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s spaceadventure, Chandamama Door Ke. We have now learnt that a spacesuit has been specially designed for the actor by special effects director John Palmer who has worked on films like Ron Howard’s Apollo 13, Mimi Leder’s Deep Impact, Michael Bay’s Armageddon and Ridley Scott’s The Martian, to name a few.

“Yes, John and Sanjay’ve been working on this beautiful suit and I can’t wait to get into it. John will fly down to India soon and also meet me at NASA while I’ll be there for the prep,” Sushant confirmed, adding that it has 11 layers and can be worn while under-water training in a 40-feet deep swimming pool.

John who has worked on space films for 45 years has been associated with Chandamama Door Ke for a few years and says it’s because it struck an instant chord. “I have designed the spacesuits for which I researched latest Russian and Chinese suit models, along with Indian designs from ISRO. I’ve gone through thousands of designs with Sanjay before selecting these which incorporate Indian elements that are not only aesthetically appealing but functional too. Going by Sushant’s fitness level and dedication, he’s definitely up for the difficult training,” says John, knowing how uncomfortable it is to shoot in a spacesuit.

However, Sanjay adds that their spacesuits are designed in a way that one can train in them for hours. “Sushant wants functionality over comfort. After special training from NASA and John’s team of experts, he will be ready to fly to the moon,” he smiles.

Sushant admits that the space has fascinated him since childhood. “I wanted to be an astronaut but since I couldn’t figure out how to pursue it, I decided I’d be an air force pilot instead. But my mother didn’t want me to pursue these professions so I started studying engineering instead but even then I was hooked on astrophysics. But now I’m getting to live my dream with this film,” he exults, adding that he has always idolised American astronaut Neil Armstrong who was the first person to walk on the moon.

Sushant will undergo training in wearing the spacesuit, the moonwalk and practicing flight simulations at NASA. “It’ll be my first trip there and I’m waiting to experience zero gravity and 1/6 gravity,” the actor says.

Meanwhile Aamir Khan will play Rakesh Sharma, the former Indian Air Force pilot who was the first Indian to travel to space and buzz is Priyanka Chopra will headline the Kalpana Chawla biopic. Prod Sushant on the sudden interest in the subject and he says, “I have been fascinated by the subject myself and really looking forward to the experience.”