Meet the Maker: Ryan Nagata

Adam Savage tapped Ryan Nagata, the spacesuit replica maker, for Project Egress's hatch window. And what a WINDOW it is.

Unless you’re new to Tested, you know Ryan Nagata VERY well. He is a master spacesuit replica maker and FOA (“friend of Adam”) who has come by the shop to show us his VERY FIRST spacesuit replica and his replicas for the film First Man, among other things. We’ve been to his shop as well. And of course, you know one of Adam’s most PRIZED possessions is the Apollo A7L spacesuit that Ryan made for him.

Well, Ryan ALSO contributed to Project Egress by making the Apollo 11 hatch window, which was a thing of beauty. Read on.

Bio: Ryan Nagata is an artist from Los Angeles, Calif. After working for years in Hollywood as a director, writer, and prop-builder, Ryan gravitated more towards the art world creating original science-fiction and space-inspired pieces. He is perhaps best known for making some of the most authentic-looking replicas of vintage spacesuits in the world. His suits have been seen in museum exhibits, print ads, TV, and films. Ryan is a frequent collaborator with Adam Savage and has appeared in a number of videos for Tested.com. In 2017, he created many of the costume and prop pieces for the Neil Armstrong biopic First Man, directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Ryan Gosling. He also served as a costume consultant and on-set tech for the film.

Artist statement: “As someone who replicates space hardware for a living, my days are spent studying vintage NASA photos, drawing up plans to create pieces, and fabricating said pieces. So “Progress Egress” was right up my alley. I mostly make spacesuit replicas, so this was the first time I made a piece of the spacecraft, which was exciting and opened up a whole new field for me.

I’m now considering making a full scale Mercury capsule in the coming years. It was also the first time I’ve done a collaborative built like this where many makers across the country work on one project. I went for a realistic, literal representation of my particular piece (the window). It was very exciting to see the whole thing come together.”

Follow Ryan: Links: Website | Instagram | Twitter