Suiting Up for Apollo

Apollo astronauts first started by putting on highly absorbent underwear. They wore these under their suits in case there was an unanticipated bathroom accident. These heavy-duty, space boxer briefs would fill in for an emergency. In addition, they had a urine collection device. This was essentially a heavy, rubber tube that emptied into a rubberized reservoir. Remember, that all astronauts at the time were men—they adopted technology that long-duration pilots had been using for years.

The next layer was a liquid cooling garment (LCG). This is a water-cooled nylon undergarment that looked like long underwear with clear plastic tubes running through it. Attached to the LCG was a biobelt. Biobelts had tools that helped monitor the physiological functions of the astronaut including a heart-rate monitor. All the electronic life support signals went through the biobelt. Each sensor had to be threaded through the pouches in the belt and then attached with snap fasteners to the liquid cooling garment.

At this point, the astronaut would be ready to put on the major piece of the spacesuit, the Integrated Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment (ITMG). This layer is what usually comes to mind when people thing of the space suit.

The ITMG is the suit that included the pressure layer, the restraint layer (to make sure the pressure layer didn't expand), and the white thermal micrometeoroid layer (to protect from extreme temperature and flying objects) along with the integrated boot.

Getting into the ITMG was no easy task. The astronaut would have to climb through a back zipper. The opening was a tight fit, and he would need to maneuver his shoulders and hips through the opening simultaneously in order to get his legs, arms, and head into the suit properly. Success was signaled by the feet being in place in the boots and the astronaut’s head popping through the neck ring.

With the IMTG on, the astronaut would then start to make the electronic and other connections between the Liquid Cooling Garment, biobelt, and the interior of the suit. After connections were completed, work to seal the suit would begin. The astronaut would zip up the pressure zipper with a long extension ribbon that would pull from the bottom front of the suit to the back of the neck.

Once the suit was on, the astronaut would add all the final components. Next to go on would be the Communications Carrier Assembly (CCA), also known as the “Snoopy cap” for its characteristic white and brown markings. The CCA held both a microphone and headset close to the astronaut’s head as he moved around. That, too, would connect to a plug within the main suit. Once that connection was made, all that was left was for the astronaut to put on gloves.

These were Intravehicular (IV) gloves for launch that had black rubber hands and white wrists that connected to matching red or blue (right and left) aluminum connectors onto the ITMG at the wrists.

A second pair of Extravehicular (EV) gloves were used on the surface of the Moon. These gloves had blue silicone fingertips, and the lower fingers and palms were covered in a woven stainless steel fabric, known as Chromel-R.

The next thing that the astronauts would put on was a clear, polycarbonate, bubble, pressure helmet assembly that fastened to their neck ring and completed the seal for the Apollo spacesuit. While on the Moon, astronauts wore a Lunar Extravehicular Visor Assembly (LEVA) on top of the bubble helmet that acted as both an oversized set of sun glasses and protected the metal components around the neck from direct sunlight.

The famous photograph of Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins walking towards the Saturn V launch vehicle before launch shows them carrying small cases. These were ventilator cases that the astronauts used to maintain atmosphere and cooling while on Earth. Once in the command module, they would link to the spacecraft’s life support, receiving good air through the blue connects on their chest and expelling used air through the red ones.

Before going out onto the surface of the Moon, Apollo astronauts put on their EV gloves, lunar overshoes, Portable Life Support System (PLSS), and Oxygen Purge System (OPS).

The lunar overshoes had a similar design to the EV gloves, with blue silicone tread that left the iconic footprints on the Moon. The overshoes had the same stainless steel fabric to prevent against punctures along with layers of synthetic materials all topped with white betacloth to insulate against solar radiation. Unlike the gloves, however, the EV boots fitted on top of the integrated boots of the ITMG.

The Portable Life Support System was the main life support for the astronauts while exploring the surface of the Moon. It supplied oxygen, cool water, and communications.

The Oxygen Purge System was an emergency oxygen supply that was mounted on top of the PLSS backpack that would allow the astronauts to get back to the lunar module and to the command module in case of an emergency. Inside the lunar module, the PLSS would not operate until it was in a vacuum. Astronauts remained connected to the module life support while they depressurize the lunar module and until the PLSS began to supply oxygen and cool water to them. That is why there are two sets of connectors on the front of the suit.