Apollo Space Suit
The Apollo A7L and A7LB suits were the most complex space suits of the 60s and had to be re-mastered to, unlike the Mercury and Gemini suits, be able to move at the waist and legs to allow astronauts the ability to stoop down and pick up moon rocks. The suits were custom made to fit each astronaut and worn on only one mission. They had to function in microgravity and one-sixth gravity. The astronauts had to also be able to walk freely on the surface of the moon with out a cumbersome combination line and tether.
The Apollo space suit starts with a liquid cooling garment with long tubes sewn to the fabric to allow water to cool the astronauts while working on the moon. Next is the comfort layer of lightweight nylon and fabric ventilation ducts. Followed by that is a multilayered outer suit. This layer consisted of a neoprene-coated nylon bladder surrounded by a nylon restraint layer. Better mobility was achieve by foamed rubber with built in restraint cables at the waist, elbows, shoulders, wrist, knees, and ankles. Next to that is five layers of aluminized Mylar for heat protection while mixed with four spacing layers of nonwoven Dacron. Outside of this are two layers of Kapton and beta marquisette for added thermal protection covered by a nonflammable and abrasion-protective layer of Teflom-coated filament beta cloth. The outermost layer is white Teflon cloth. The last two layers are flame resistant. All in all, the Apollo suit provides the astronaut protection against heat and cold, provides pressure, and protects for micrometeorite impacts plus the wear and tear of walking on the moon.
Neil's Apollo 11 EMU.
HOW TO TELL THE SUITS APART
From Apollo 13 to 17 the commander of the mission would wear red bands above his elbows and below the knees. This was used so that people could tell the astronauts apart while they were on the moon. The CM pilot did not have any bands and also did not have as many round oxygen inlet and oulet hose connectors on the chest part of the suit. From Apollo 7 to 14 the CM pilots had only three connectors on the righthand side of the suit. From Apollo 15 to 17 the CM pilots had five connectors, three on the right and two on the left. The extra oxygen inlet and outlet connectors were needed for the EVA the CM pilot would perform during the trip back to earth. The LEM pilot did not have as many changes except that it, along with the commander's suit, had a major change in connector position from Apollo 15 to 17. All of these changes occurred because of major advancement in Apollo space suit design.
GLOVES
The Apollo space suit gloves were custom-made for each astronaut. The EVA gloves were molded with silicone-rubber fingertips that granted some fingertip sensitivity when handling equipment. Pressure-sealing disconnects, similar to the helmet-to-suit connection, attached the gloves to the space suit arms. The black rubber pressure gloves that were used for the launch were made from a mold of the astronauts hand. The EVA glove was put over the pressure glove.
LUNAR BOOTS
The Lunar boot, which actually slipped over the pressure boot of the suit, was made of a metal-woven fabric, except for the ribbed silicone rubber sole. The tongue area was made from Teflon-coated glass-fiber cloth. The boot's inner layers consisted of Teflon-coated glass-fiber cloth and 25 altering layers of Kapton film and glass-fiber cloth to form lightweight insulation.
HELMETS
The Apollo space helmets are made from strong polycarbonate and attached to the suit by a pressure-sealing neckring. The astronaut's head could move freely in the helmet unlike the Gemini and Mercury helmets. A special gold-plated visor was designed to protect the astronaut's eyes from the sun while walking on the moon. For the launches the astronauts wore the "fish bowl" helmet. This helmet was clear all around except for a little in the back where there was a small cushion for the astronauts head when he was lying on his back for launch. While walking on the moon the astronauts put on the "hood" part with the gold platted visor over the helmet.
PORTABLE LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM (PLSS)
The PLSS (pronounced "pliss") backpack used for Apollo missions houses air and pressurization, water for cooling the astronaut, and for radio communications. In addition, the backpack could be recharged in the LEM for more use on the moon. In the later Apollo missions a small pack was attached to the side to hold geology equipment.
Above picture from Ames Research Center.
APOLLO SUITS
The Apollo astronauts, as well as the astronauts in other programs, had three suits. One main, on backup, and one training. The training one was the most worn-out because of the extensive training. The main suit was the suit the astronaut wore on the mission. The backup suit was an emergency suit in case the main suit were to tear or malfunction before launch. The suits were classified for the design of the suit.
Class 1 - flight use
Class 2 - training
Class 3 - backup
The text and photographs on this page are either public domain or were originally published on the Internet at http://www.farhills.org/s/lees/ which no longer exists.
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There were many Apollo suit designs. Here they are in order. (SOURCE: http://www.farhills.org/s/lees/space/resources.htm : U.S. Space Gear)
(KEY:
A stands for Apollo and the number is the model number. The next letter is the manufacturer:
C = David Calark Co.,
H = Hamilton Standard,
L = International Latex Corp.
X means that it was an experemental suit.)