The Model A-7LB Space Suit

This chapter outlines the features of the advanced model A-7LB space suit (or Omega suit) and discusses the various Apollo missions this model suit was flown aboard.

Developing the State-of-the-Art Space Suit

What is the definition of a space suit? This chapter explains and chronicles the development of the model XMC2-ILC pressure suit for the early U.S. Air Force high-altitude aircraft.

The Model A-5L Space Suit Contract

ILC Industries wins the Apollo suit contract and is now the prime contractor responsible for delivering the suit NASA needs to explore the lunar surface and provide other protection to the crews traveling to and from the moon.

End of a Historic Era

This chapter provides an overview of how the Apollo program came to an end, the end of the space race, and how both affected ILC Industries.

The Model A-6L Space Suit

ILC Industries develops the model A-6L suit intended to be the first flight version to support the Apollo missions. The Nomex outer cover layer is designed with the expectation that it would provide all the protection necessary for the Apollo crews.

School of Hard Knocks

The story of the ILC Industries space suit has its roots in the early 1950s, when a small group of “hard-knockers,” as they would call themselves, began developing pressure suits to protect humans in space. The company was better known for making commercial products such as bras and girdles through a closely tied parent division named Playtex. The ILC’s work on pressure suits followed the success their small division had had with developing and manufacturing pressure helmets such as the model MA-2 for the U.S. Air Force. Post–World War II jet aircraft were flying at higher altitudes and the demand for crew protection had increased. While the air force gave ILC an opportunity to develop the first pressure suits, those early contracts were just an excuse for ILC to get their “space suit” recognized by industry.

The Model A-7L Space Suit, 1967–1971

The Apollo 1 fire tragedy forces ILC to change their approach on how the suit is designed so that future crews will be offered more protection by the use of modern materials for the cover layers. This chapter covers all of the Apollo missions that used the model A-7L space suit and describes the various features of the suit.

Second Chances

After two years of much difficulty getting an acceptable suit from the ILC/Hamilton team, NASA reopens the Apollo suit contract and invites Hamilton Standard and B. F. Goodrich to team up and provide a new suit. NASA also invites the David Clark Co. to provide a suit. ILC pleads with NASA and ultimately gets invited to submit another entry, the AX-5L space suit, which goes on the win the final Apollo suit contract. ILC is then made the prime contractor.

Skylab, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Program, and Other Development Suits

This chapter discusses the space suits used aboard the Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz Test Program flights and outlines their differences from the lunar mission suits. It includes details of advanced suits ILC worked on at the time in support of the future Space Shuttle missions NASA had on their drawing boards.

The Turbulent Years, 1962–1965

NASA decides that the best course to take to develop the Apollo space suit is to choose Hamilton Standard as the prime suit contractor and make ILC the supplier of the suit to Hamilton Standard. This did not sit well with the ILC team who was instrumental in the suit development and considered themselves the prime contractor for the suit.