Bruised, bleeding, and wearing a diaper for SIX hours – the painful truth of what it’s REALLY like to walk in space (and why it looks NOTHING like Sandra Bullock in Gravity)

For many astronauts, spacewalking is the ultimate ambition, but only the elite are qualified to do it. And Cady Coleman—who spent six months on the International Space Station in 2010—is quick to point out that it is NOTHING like Sandra Bullock’s glamorous performance in Gravity.

Coleman gave the actress in the film advice on how to make her spacewalk believable, during an intergalactic phone call from the ISS.

But in her new book, Sharing Space, she describes the painful process of wearing the bulky, unisex EVA (extravehicular activity) suits.

Things got even more unmanageable when NASA decided to eliminate the smallest size in 2003, leaving her to perform critical surgeries in a suit she could have “done a hula in.”

“To be clear, at 5’4″ I’m not dramatically small, and my arms are just short compared to male astronauts,” she says. “But I had little choice but to adapt to the equipment that was available — and like so many things, even in those days, the equipment was basically designed to accommodate men.

‘One-size-fits-all usually meant it applied to all men.’

To understand why this was such a big deal, she explains that the EVA spacesuit is unlike any other piece of clothing.

“It’s a challenge to operate in a suit like that, even if it fits perfectly, let alone if it’s too big. And remember, your ability to perform in that suit is literally a matter of life and death.”

Donning the suit takes about an hour and can only be accomplished with the help of a team of suit technicians—the NASA equivalent of Broadway dressers.

First comes the adult diaper. You may not need it, she says, but it’s an insurance policy just in case.

Next up: Standard sports bra, ‘almost always shrunk beyond recognition in NASA’s industrial dryers’.

The next layer consists of long underwear that absorbs sweat and provides astronauts with an extra layer of cushioning through the hard edges of the suit.

‘Now comes a crucially important garment — the LCVG, short for Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment. The LCVG looks like a jumpsuit designed by a performance artist. Tubes of water are woven through the fabric in all directions, like oversized veins.

“When you’re floating around in a 300-pound spacesuit, your body heats up quickly. Your LCVG lets you regulate your body temperature using an adjustable, but hard-to-reach, knob on the front of your suit.”

Then, additional padding is added: elbow pads, knee pads, 3” hip pads, and a 4” groin pad. Finally, a belt is added to keep everything in place.

“I don’t look at all like Sandra Bullock in Gravity, who steps into her spacesuit, wears little black shorts and a tank top and flies off into space. In the LCVG, I look more like a clumsy Egyptian mummy who has emerged from her tomb after thousands of years.”

Only then can she put on the actual spacesuit.

‘The bottom half goes first. My agility already limited by the water tubes pressing against my long underwear, I plop down on my butt and shuffle forward in the bottom of the spacesuit until my feet are in the boots. Then, with a giant one-two-three, heave-ho, the technicians lift me to my feet.

‘At this point, the suit technicians are adding more padding to the bottom of my suit, stuffing it into the belt. “Don’t be shy!” I told them. “The more padding, the better!”

‘Held steady by the brave suit technicians, I waddle a few feet and step onto a platform, where the top half of my spacesuit is clamped to the top of a stand. I dive down and tilt my head and shoulders back, sliding up and into the top, sticking my arms out first, followed by my head – like a turtle.

“The engineers attach the top of the spacesuit to the bottom of the spacesuit. They also put a communications hood on my head. It’s a Rocky-and-Bullwinkle-meets-Amelia-Earhart leather look and lets me talk to Mission Control.”

The next piece of clothing is the gloves.

“Each astronaut has his or her own protocol with moleskin padding and bandages. I slide my fingers into the glove liners, making sure the seams are facing out, and weave each finger into the appropriate slot. The big gloves come next, and they snap into place.”

And finally – the helmet tops it all off. Literally.

‘If my nose itches for the next six hours, that’s too bad. I’m now cut off from the outside world.’

During a spacewalk, the work usually consists of repairing broken parts of the ISS: replacing a pump, repairing a cooling system, rerouting the power supply or installing new batteries for the solar panels.

During training sessions in a pool, they practice for six hours straight. “But EVA is one of those experiences that requires so much concentration that you don’t really notice the time,” Cady says.

“I also don’t notice that my suit is uncomfortable once I’m underwater. I concentrate completely on the task at hand. I remind myself to relax every muscle that doesn’t need to be tensed, to save energy.”

At the end of the session, the astronauts are stripped of their layers in reverse order and then run to the toilet to relieve themselves.

“I’m always surprised to see myself in the mirror,” Cady says. “My arms and legs are covered in red and purple bruises and scrapes. Sometimes I bleed from where the suit is, and I’ve had trouble getting into a particularly awkward position.

‘My fingers are raw from being crushed in the gloves, and the nail beds are often bruised, sometimes resulting in the loss of a nail. I was so focused on the task at hand that I didn’t even notice it until now.

“The bumps and bruises are a daily reminder that the medium suit really doesn’t fit me. Even with all that extra padding, I could still do a hula dance in that medium suit. I have to strain to position myself in the front of my suit to grab something, which makes it harder to reach the tools on my mini workstation and generally harder to perform EVA tasks.

“I press my arms and torso against the sides and armholes when I try to reach for things. Even with the padding, I’m a mess when I take it off.”

Fortunately, things have changed since Cady made her groundbreaking trip to space, making the program – and spacewalks in particular – accessible to a wider audience.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen several women conduct spacewalks and witnessed Christina Koch and Jessica Meir conduct the first all-female spacewalk,” she says.

‘And… if NASA’s Artemis takes the first woman to the moon [in 2025]she will do so in a newly designed spacesuit.

“I hope it fits her perfectly.”

Share space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Change by Cady Coleman is published by Penguin Life, July 2