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The History of Spacesuits

About half a million individuals worked on NASA's Apollo Project, taking an impossible idea and landing humans on the moon. During their journey, the astronauts relied on specialized spacesuits to protect themselves from the harsh conditions of space, and NASA has built on that legacy in its subsequent spacesuit design work.

Radiation, extreme temperatures and a number of other factors threaten the lives of those humans who venture off our small blue marble. But the best way to protect astronauts from those risks varies with the details of the mission.

Project Mercury- May 11th, 1959

The first spacesuit designed for humans. In reality the suit is just a modified high altitude and pressure jet suit. They added Neoprene coated nylon on the inside of the suit and aluminized nylon on the outside. On February 20th, 1962, Astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth in the Project Mercury Orbit mission. He did so in the Mercury suit.

Project Gemini- February 6th, 1965

The Gemini space suit was created by Ed White which went on to be the first suit in an American spacewalk. Unlike the Mercury suit this one was made to be flexible when pressurized. This allowed the man inside to be able to move, unlike the Mercury suit which would become stiff if exposed to space.

Project Apollo- March 9th, 1967

This is a suit many people are familiar with- the suit which got to the moon. The Apollo suit was being made to be able to withstand the harsh environment and temperature of the moon, since previous suits were only meant for space exposure not walking on planets. The Apollo suit had an excursion restraint harness on it. This let the astronaut bend over and pick up rocks without tearing. This suit was used between 1968 and 1975. The suit consisted of two layers one for regulating body temperature and the other for protection against radiation.

Apollo 1- July 7th, 1967

Originally called "Apollo Saturn" the Apollo 1 suit was first tested on a launch pad test on January 27th. There was a cabin fire during the test and all members perished during it. Since the suit wasn't fire proof the flame quickly spread to the suit. After the incident engineers tried to figure out what went wrong, and project Apollo was postponed for 20 months to allow researchers to resolve the issues.

Apollo 7- October 11th, 1968

Apollo 7 was the first manned space launch after the Apollo 1 incident. The new Apollo suit had been upgraded to be much more flexible and to be fire proof. While the visual aspects of it remained pretty much the same, the utility of it had been upgraded vastly. The flight was manned by Commander Walter Schirra, Donn Eilise and Walter Cunningham. Their flight was a huge success and lasted 10 days. In 2008 the team was awarded "NASA's distinguished service medals" for their contribution to to the Apollo program.

Apollo 11- July 12th, 1969

Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first humans on the Moon, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Using the new Apollo suit, they walked on the moon. All Apollo suits before this were not made for the moon, but for spacewalking.

Columbia Shuttle- April 12th, 1981

A new era in space flight began on April 12, 1981, when Space Shuttle Columbia, or STS-1, soared into orbit from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle was humankind's first re-usable spacecraft. The suits worn were modified version of a US Air Force high-altitude pressure suit.

Pumpkin Suit- May 8th, 1981

This familiar shuttle suit was widely known for its bright orange colour. The Pumpkin suit was a vast upgrade from the first shuttle suit. It had a life support system, axillary oxygen, a life raft and survival gear.

MK-3 Spacesuit- July 5th, 2002

The MK3 suit was developed by NASA as an improvement on the past Apollo suits. Even though the MK 3 is heavier than the Apollo suits it is more mobile, and is designed for a relatively high operating pressure. It is also equipped with an advanced life support system.

Z-1 Suit

A suit still in development, NASA says that the Z suit will be the suit that's the easiest to get into. Its novelty's are largely in the flexible areas, fitted with bearings in the waist, hips, upper legs. Equipped with all of the new materials found in the complex inner suit, which includes urethane coated nylon to keep in air and polyester to help the suit hold its overall shape. The suit isn't currently polished enough for a space walk.
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