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{{short description|Space suit used in Apollo and Skylab missions}}
[[File:Apollo 11 space suit.jpg|thumb
The '''Apollo/Skylab space suit''' (sometimes called the '''Apollo 11 Spacesuit'''
The subsequent Apollo 15-17 lunar missions,<ref name="us3">{{cite book |title= US Spacesuits |author1=Kenneth S. Thomas |author2=Harold J. McMann |year= 2006 |publisher= Praxis Publishing Ltd. |___location= Chichester, UK |isbn= 0-387-27919-9 | pages = 430–431 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref> Skylab,<ref name="us4">{{cite book |title= US Spacesuits |author1=Kenneth S. Thomas |author2=Harold J. McMann |year= 2006 |publisher= Praxis Publishing Ltd. |___location= Chichester, UK |isbn= 0-387-27919-9 | pages = 432–433 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref> and [[Apollo–Soyuz]] used A7LB pressure suits.<ref name="us5">{{cite book |title= US Spacesuits |author1=Kenneth S. Thomas |author2=Harold J. McMann |year= 2006 |publisher= Praxis Publishing Ltd. |___location= Chichester, UK |isbn= 0-387-27919-9 | pages = 434–435 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref> Additionally, these pressure suits varied by program usage. For the Skylab EMU, NASA elected to use an umbilical life support system named the Astronaut Life Support Assembly.
The suits used during lunar EVAs had a weight of about {{cvt|81.6|kg|lbs}}, and under lunar surface gravity a weight
== Basic design <!--DO NOT capitalize the word "design" here -- see the Manual of Style---> ==
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Hamilton and International Latex were never able to form an effective working relationship. In March 1965, Hamilton switched to B. F. Goodrich as suit supplier.<ref name=tjtm>{{cite book |title= The Journey To Moonwalking |author=Kenneth S. Thomas |year= 2017 |publisher= Curtis Press |___location= Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK |isbn= 9-780993-400223 | pages = 99–103 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref> International Latex, in July 1965, won the Block II suit competition with its A5L design. This forced NASA to assume management of the Block II EMU program directly.<ref name=tjtm88-114>{{cite book |title= The Journey To Moonwalking |author=Kenneth S. Thomas |year= 2017 |publisher= Curtis Press |___location= Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK |isbn= 9-780993-400223 | pages = 88–114| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref> Before the end of 1965, Hamilton Standard completed certification of its new backpack.<ref name=tjtm80-87>{{cite book |title= The Journey To Moonwalking |author=Kenneth S. Thomas |year= 2017 |publisher= Curtis Press |___location= Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK |isbn= 9-780993-400223 | pages = 80–87 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref> NASA subsequently terminated the Block II AiResearch backpack, thus completing the selection of the suit/backpack designs and suppliers to support man's first walking on the Moon. However, this was not to be without improvements. The Apollo 11 EMU featured an A7L suit with a -6 (dash six) backpack reflecting seven suit and six backpack design iterations.<ref name="us2"/> The A7L was a rear entry suit made in two versions. The Extra-vehicular (EV), which would be used on the Moon and the Command Module Pilot (CMP) that was a simpler garment.<ref name="us"/>
The ILC Dover team, however, collaborated quite well. Douglas N. Lantry, a scholar of the spacesuit manufacture in the Apollo era, notes that the teamwork displayed by the seamstresses creating the spacesuits demonstrated the effectiveness of overlapping and cross-training on each others' specialties and expertise.<ref>Lantry, D. N. (1995). Man in Machine: Apollo-Era Space Suits as Artifacts of Technology and Culture. ''Winterthur Portfolio'', ''30''(4), 203–230. <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/4618514</nowiki></ref> This team of seamstresses, led by [[Hazel Fellows]], included [[Iona Allen]], Delema Austin, Doris Boisey, Julia Brown, Delema Comegys, Joanne Thompson, Michelle Trice, Jeanne Wilson, and Delores Zeroles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Emily A. Margolis Recognizes Women in STEM {{!}} Smithsonian American Women's History Museum |url=https://womenshistory.si.edu/blog/dr-emily-margolis-recognizes-women-stem |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=womenshistory.si.edu |language=en}}</ref>
The A7L pressure suits reached space flight in October 1968 aboard Apollo 7.<ref name=tjtm155-162>{{cite book |title= The Journey To Moonwalking |author=Kenneth S. Thomas |year= 2017 |publisher= Curtis Press |___location= Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK |isbn= 9-780993-400223 | pages = 155–162 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref> These were used as launch and reentry emergency suits. Also in 1968, NASA recognized that with modifications, the Block II EMU could additionally support the later EVA missions that involved a Lunar Rover Vehicle (LRV). This resulted in the termination of Apollo Block III in favor of an Apollo 15 through 17 EMU using an A7LB suit and a "-7" long duration backpack.<ref name="us"/>
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Apollo 11 made the A7L the most iconic suit of the program. It proved to be the primary [[pressure suit]] worn by [[NASA]] astronauts for [[Project Apollo]]. Starting in 1969, the A7L suits were designed and produced by [[ILC Dover]] (a division of [[Playtex]] at the time). The A7L is an evolution of ILC's initial A5L, which won a 1965 pressure suit competition, and A6L, which introduced the integrated thermal and micrometeoroid cover layer. After the deadly [[Apollo 1]] fire, the suit was upgraded to be fire-resistant and designated A7L.<ref name='SP-4011:Skylab A Chronology'>{{cite web|url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4011/part2c.htm |title=SP-4011:Skylab A Chronology |access-date=2007-07-07 |year=1977 |publisher=[[NASA]] | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070717011524/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4011/part2c.htm| archive-date= 17 July 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name='EMU Development'>{{cite web|url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/tnD8093EMUDevelop.html |title=Development of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit|publisher=NASA |author1=Charles C. Lutz|author2=Harley L. Stutesman |author3=Maurice A. Carson |author4=James W. McBarron II |year=1975 |access-date=10 January 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070801204432/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/tnD8093EMUDevelop.html| archive-date= 1 August 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref>
On July 20, 1969, the [[Apollo 11]] EMUs were prominent in television coverage of the first lunar landing. Also in 1969, International Latex elected to spin
The basic design of the A7L suit was a one piece, five-layer "torso-limb" suit with convoluted joints made of synthetic and natural rubber at the shoulders, elbows, wrist, hips, ankle, and knee joints. A shoulder "cable/conduit" assembly allowed the suit's shoulder to move forward, backwards, up, or down with user movements. Quick disconnects at the neck and forearms allowed for the connection of the pressure gloves and the famous Apollo "fishbowl helmet" (adopted by NASA as it allowed an unrestricted view, as well as eliminating the need for a visor seal required in the [[Navy Mark IV|Mercury]] and [[Gemini Spacesuit|Gemini and Apollo Block I]] spacesuit helmets). A cover layer, which was designed to be fireproof after the deadly Apollo 1 fire, was attached to the pressure garment assembly and was removable for repairs and inspection. All A7L suits featured a vertical zipper from the helmet disconnect (neck ring), down the back, and around the crotch.
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===Portable Life Support System===
At the beginning of the Apollo spacesuit competition, no one knew how the life support would attach to the suit, how the controls needed to be arranged, or what amount of life support was needed. What was known was that in ten months, the Portable Life Support System, aka "backpack", needed to be completed to support complete suit-system testing before the end of the twelfth month. Before the spacesuit contract was awarded, the requirement for normal life support per hour almost doubled. At this point, a maximum hourly metabolic energy expenditure requirement was added, which was over three times the original requirement.<ref name=tjtm34-39>{{cite book |title= The Journey To Moonwalking |author=Kenneth S. Thomas |year= 2017 |publisher= Curtis Press |___location= Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, UK |isbn= 9-780993-400223 | pages = 34–39 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC }}</ref>
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