Technician safeguards spacesuit in Aotearoa

As a child, Randy Pike would take two different model kits and mix up the pieces to create fantastical creations bearing no resemblance to the pictures on the box. As an adult, he spends his days playing with life-size replicas for films.

 In a soft voice, he describes himself as a little off-kilter, saying everybody in the industry is the same. He also thinks he has the greatest job in the world.

Pike, a spacesuit technician, works for a United States film prop company. He travels the world with the spacesuits his company rents out for movies, television shows, and advertisements.

“I love my job. I grew up wanting to do what I do. I read Star Log magazine, I read Fangoria.” 

He is in New Zealand on a television commercial shoot with what is called a extra-vehicular mobility unit suit, a replica of the suits used on the NASA shuttle programme and on the international space station.

The suit was one of six originally made for the movie Space Cowboys. As a replica, the $68,000 suit is impressive, looking realistic from 2.5 centimetres away. 

It is missing much of the internal hardware that would make it suitable for space and would add 140 kgs for actors to struggle with in earth’s gravity.

Pike’s role is to ensure the cumbersome suit is returned in perfect condition, the gold visor intact and sliding up and down smoothly, the head lamps still working.

“I’m there to watch my suit, make sure my suit doesn’t get damaged, and one of the best ways to do that is make sure the person in the suit isn’t grumpy, angry or upset.  That is a big part of my job.

“It’s going to be uncomfortable because it’s not custom made for that person. So there’s going to be problems. Usually I help by getting them out of the suit as quickly as possible because they’ve decided it’s the suit they can’t tolerate.

“I have never had an actor vindictively damage my suit. I want to say that’s due to luck as opposed to being egotistical and say it’s my great skill handling actors. Nobody is that good.”

 Pike said nobody who makes it in the movie industry is normal.

“It seems the more off-kilter you are, the more successful you are.”

He has met some of his heroes in the role. Working with Clint Eastwood was a highlight, as was being assigned to James Garner in Space Cowboys.

Another satisfying moment was working with Mike Myers in an Austin Powers movie. Pike said a joke Myers made in the movies has made his life hell.

“One of the best moments I’ve ever had on set was waking up to Mike Myers and going ‘Hi, I’m Randy.’ Having him go off on me with the ‘Oh, I’m randy’, thinking once again somebody has used his own joke on him.”

Pike said he stared at Myers with a raised eyebrow until he had finished and then said:

“No, I really am Randy and I’m here to dress you in the spacesuit.”

Being detail focussed is another aspect to Pike’s role. On set he provides advice on how actors can emulate the micro-gravity of space.

A common misconception he finds is people thinking you move in slow motion in space.

“In fact technically you move slightly faster because there’s no air and you have no resistance.”

After 20 years of working with the suits and talking with astronauts he finds it easy to trouble-shoot scenes. In the upcoming movie Geostorm he helped with a scene set in a space station involving actor Gerard Butler.

“They’re giving this direction of reaching over and punching the screen. I looked at it and said you can’t do that.

“He’s not anchored to anything and if he punches that screen he’s going to shoot himself across the control room because any action observes an equal and opposite reaction.  So, you have to grab the edge of the screen and hold yourself, then punch it.”

Pike says he wakes up every morning excited to get to work even though he has an 80 kilometre commute through Los Angeles traffic.

“I have a great job, I love it.  It’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s difficult, it’s challenging.”