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{{short description|Space suit used in Apollo and Skylab missions}}
[[File:Apollo 11 space suit.jpg|thumb
The '''Apollo/Skylab
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
The suits used during lunar EVAs had a weight of about {{cvt|81.6|kg|lbs}}, and under lunar surface gravity a weight equivalent to {{cvt|13.6|kg|lbs}}.<ref name="Kluger 2018 z081">{{cite magazine | last=Kluger | first=Jeffrey | title=How Neil Armstrong's Moon Spacesuit Was Preserved for Centuries to Come | magazine=Time | date=October 12, 2018 | url=https://time.com/5422609/armstrong-spacesuit-smithsonian/ | access-date=November 29, 2023}}</ref> The low surface gravity and suit pressurization put considerable constraints on its use.<ref name="Nast 2013 v237">{{cite magazine | title=How Do You Pick Up Something on the Moon? | magazine=WIRED | date=December 9, 2013 | url=https://www.wired.com/2013/12/how-do-you-pick-up-something-on-the-moon/ | access-date=November 29, 2023}}</ref>
== Basic design <!--DO NOT capitalize the word "design" here -- see the Manual of Style---> ==
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}}
The base Apollo EMU design took over three years to produce.
NASA held a competition for the Apollo SSA contract in March 1962. Each competition proposal had to demonstrate all the abilities needed to develop and produce the entire SSA. Many contractor-teams submitted proposals. Two gained NASA interest. The Hamilton Standard Division of United Aircraft Corporation proposal offered Hamilton providing the SSA program management and PLSS with David Clark Company as the PGA provider. The International Latex Corporation (ILC) proposal planned International Latex as the SSA program manager and PGA manufacturer, Republic Aviation providing additional suit experience and Westinghouse providing the PLSS.
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In October 1964, NASA elected to split the spacesuit program into three parts. David Clark would provide the suits for the "Block I" early missions without extra-vehicular activity (EVA). The Hamilton/ILC program would continue as "Block II" to support the early EVA missions. The pressure suit design for Block II was to be selected in a June 1965 re-competition. To assure Block II backpack success, AiResearch was funded for a parallel backpack effort. The later, longer-duration Apollo missions would be Block III and have more advanced pressure suits and a longer duration backpack to be provided by suppliers selected in future competitions. To reflect this new start in the program, the PGA was renamed the Pressure Suit Assembly (PSA) across the programs and the Block II and III SSAs were renamed Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU).
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
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
The complete Apollo EMU made its space debut with Apollo 9 launched into space on March 3, 1969.<ref name=tjtm162-169>{{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 = 162–169 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC
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
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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====Torso Limb Suit Assembly====
Between [[Apollo 7|Apollos 7]] and
====Integrated Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment====
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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
▲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&source=gbs_navlinks_s }}</ref>
In late 1962, testing of an early training suit raised concerns about life support requirements. The concerns were dismissed because the forthcoming Apollo new-designs were expected to have lower effort mobility and improved ventilation systems. However, Hamilton took this as a strong indication that Apollo spacesuit life support requirements might significantly increase and initiated internally funded research and development in "backpack" technologies.
In the tenth month, the first backpack was completed. Manned testing found the backpack to meet requirements. This would have been a great success but for the crewed testing confirming that the 1963 life support requirements were not sufficient to meet lunar mission needs. Early in 1964, the final Apollo spacesuit specifications were established that increased normal operations by 29% and increased maximum use support 25%. Again, the volume and weight constraints did not change. These final increases required operational efficiencies that spawned the invention of the porous plate sublimator<ref name=tjtm58-59>{{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 = 58–59 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cdO2-4szcdgC
The porous plate sublimator had a metal plate with microscopic pores sized just right so that if the water flowing under the plate warmed to more than a user-comfortable level, frozen water in the plate would thaw, flow through the plate, and boil to the vacuum of space, taking away heat in the process. Once the water under the plate cooled to a user-comfortable temperature, the water in the plate would re-freeze, sealing the plate and stopping the cooling process. Thus, heat rejection with automatic temperature control was accomplished with no sensors or moving parts to malfunction.
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}}
[[Image:EV-A7LB.png|thumb|200px|left]]
For the last three Apollo lunar flights [[Apollo 15|Apollos 15]], [[Apollo 16|16]], and [[Apollo 17|17]], the spacesuits were extensively revised. The pressure suits were called A7LB, which came in two versions. The Extra-vehicular (EV) version was a new mid-entry suit that allowed greater mobility and easier operations with the lunar rover. The A7LB EV suits were designed for longer duration J-series missions, in which three EVAs would be conducted and the [[Lunar Roving Vehicle]] (LRV) would be used for the first time. Originally developed by ILC-Dover as the "A9L," but given the designation "A7LB" by NASA,<ref name="isbn0-387-27919-9">{{cite book |author1=Harold J. McMann |author2=Thomas, Kenneth P. |title=US Spacesuits (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) |publisher=Praxis
In addition, the EVA backpacks were modified to carry more oxygen, [[lithium hydroxide]] (LiOH), more power, and cooling water for the longer EVAs.<ref name='EMU Development' /> While NASA wished these revisions to be accomplished without a volume increase, that was not possible. NASA allowed a minor protrusion on one side for an auxiliary water tank resulting in the last configuration of backpack. To maximize the return of lunar samples, the main module of both the Apollo 11,12,14 and 15-17 backpacks were left on the Moon.
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[[Image:SL3-118-2180HR4 Alan Bean during Skylab 3 EVA.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[Alan Bean]] wearing a Skylab A7L during a [[Skylab 3]] EVA]]
The American space station
With the exception of the Orbital Workshop (OWS) repairs carried out by [[Skylab 2]] and [[Skylab 3]], all of the Skylab EVAs were conducted in connection to the routine maintenance carried out on the [[Apollo Telescope Mount]], which housed the station's solar telescopes. Because of the short duration of those EVAs, and as a need to protect the delicate instruments, the Apollo lunar EVA backpack was replaced with an umbilical assembly designed to incorporate both breathing air (Skylab's atmosphere was 74% oxygen and 26% nitrogen at 5 psi) and liquid water for cooling. The assembly was worn on the astronaut's waist and served as the interface between the umbilical and the suit. An emergency oxygen pack was strapped to the wearer's right thigh and was able to supply a 30-minute emergency supply of pure oxygen in the case of umbilical failure. Another unique feature of the Skylab EMU was its simplified EVA visor assembly that did not include an insulated thermal cover over the outer visor shell.
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*'''Name:''' Skylab EMU
*'''Manufacturer:''' [[ILC Dover]] (Pressure Suit Assembly) and AiResearch (bought by AlliedSignal Corporation)(Astronaut Life Support Assembly) <ref name="us"/>
*'''Missions:''' [[Skylab#
*'''Function:''' Intra-vehicular activity (IVA) and [[orbit]]al [[Extra-vehicular activity]] (EVA)<ref name=us/>
*'''Operating Pressure:''' 3.7 psi (25.5 kPa)<ref name=us/>
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=== ASTP Spacesuit ===
[[Image:Astp-KSC-75PC-409HR.2.jpg|thumb|200px|right| The ASTP crew, entering the transfer van]]
For the [[
The ASTP A7LB suit was the only Apollo suit to use the [[NASA logo|NASA "worm" logo]], which was introduced in 1975 and used extensively by NASA until 1992.
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== External links ==
{{Commons
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120914151455/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/walking/EVAChron.pdf NASA JSC Oral History Project ''Walking to Olympus: An EVA Chronology'' PDF document.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721051217/http://next.nasa.gov/alsj/A14EMU-v1.pdf Apollo Operations Handbook Extravehicular Mobility Unit: Volume I: System Description: Apollo 14]
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*[https://history.nasa.gov/spacesuits.pdf A history of NASA space suits]
*[http://www.history.nasa.gov/alsj/tnD8093EMUDevelop.pdf APOLLO EXPERIENCE REPORT DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXTRAVEHICULAR MOBILITY (PDF Document)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20000815232614/http://www.apolloarchive.com/ A visual history of project Apollo including many space suit photographs]
*[https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/ILC-SpaceSuits-RevA.pdf ILC Spacesuits and Related Products]
{{space suit}}
{{Apollo program hardware}}
{{Project Skylab}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apollo Skylab A7L}}
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