Project Apollo Spacesuit

Because Apollo astronauts had to walk on the moon as well as fly in space, a single spacesuit was developed that had add-ons for moonwalking. The basic Apollo spacesuit, which was worn during liftoff, was the backup suit needed in case cabin pressure failed.

Photo courtesy NASA Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 spacesuit

Photo courtesy NASA Astronaut Jim Lovell in Apollo spacesuit

The Apollo suit consisted of the following:

• A water-cooled nylon undergarment
• A multi-layered pressure suit
  • inside layer - lightweight nylon with fabric vents
  • middle layer - neoprene-coated nylon to hold pressure
  • outer layer - nylon to restrain the pressurized layers beneath
• Five layers of aluminized Mylar interwoven with four layers of Dacron for heat protection
• Two layers of Kapton for additional heat protection
• A layer of Teflon-coated cloth (nonflammable) for protection from scrapes
• A layer of white Teflon cloth (nonflammable)

The suit had boots, gloves, a communications cap and a clear plastic helmet. During liftoff, the suit's oxygen and cooling water were supplied by the ship.

For walking on the moon, the spacesuit was supplemented with a pair of protective overboots, gloves with rubber fingertips, a set of filters/visors worn over the helmet for protection from sunlight, and a portable life support backpack that contained oxygen, carbon-dioxide removal equipment and cooling water. The spacesuit and backpack weighed 180 lb (82 kg) on Earth, but only 30 lb (14 kg) on the moon.

Photo courtesy NASA The Apollo spacesuit as used for moonwalking

The basic Apollo spacesuit was also used for spacewalking during the Skylab missions.

During the early flights of the space shuttle, astronauts wore a brown flight suit. Like earlier missions, this flight suit was meant to protect the astronauts if the cabin pressure failed. Its design was similar to the earlier flight suits of Apollo.

Photo courtesy NASA Flightsuit used on early space shuttle missions

As shuttle flights became more routine, the astronauts stopped wearing pressurized suits during liftoff. Instead, they wore light-blue coveralls with black boots and a white, plastic, impact-resistant, communications helmet. This practice was continued until the Challenger disaster.

Photo courtesy NASA Crew of space shuttle Challenger (STS51-L) just prior to launch

Photo courtesy NASA Latest shuttle flightsuit used during liftoff and re-entry

After a review of the Challenger disaster, NASA started requiring all astronauts to wear pressurized suits during liftoff and re-entry. These orange flight suits are pressurized and equipped with a communications cap, helmet, boots, gloves, parachute, and inflatable life preserver. Again, these spacesuits are designed only for emergency use -- in case the cabin pressure fails or the astronauts have to eject from the spacecraft at high altitude during liftoff or re-entry. We will discuss the current spacesuit (Extravehicular Mobility Unit or EMU) that is used for spacewalking from the shuttle and International Space Station in the next section.