Apollo/Skylab spacesuit

Neil Armstrong described his Apollo 11 A7L suit as "tough, reliable and almost cuddly."[1]

The Apollo/Skylab space suit (sometimes called the Apollo 11 Spacesuit due to the fact that it was most known for being used in the Apollo 11 Mission) is a class of space suits used in Apollo and Skylab missions. The names for both the Apollo and Skylab space suits were Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU).[2] The Apollo EMUs consisted of a Pressure Suit Assembly (PSA) aka "suit" and a Portable Life Support System (PLSS) that was more commonly called the "backpack".[3] The A7L was the PSA model used on the Apollo 7 through 14 missions.[4]

The subsequent Apollo 15-17 lunar missions,[5] Skylab,[6] and Apollo–Soyuz used A7LB pressure suits.[7] Additionally, these pressure suits varied by program usage. For the Skylab EMU, NASA elected to use an umbilical life support system named the Astronaut Life Support Assembly.

The suits used during lunar EVAs had a weight of about 81.6 kg (180 lb), and under lunar surface gravity a weight equivalent to 13.6 kg (30 lb).[8] The low surface gravity and suit pressurization put considerable constraints on its use.[9]

  1. ^ "Science Friday Archives: How to Dress for Space Travel". NPR. March 25, 2011. Archived from the original on October 10, 2011.
  2. ^ Kenneth S. Thomas; Harold J. McMann (2006). US Spacesuits. Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing Ltd. pp. 428–435. ISBN 0-387-27919-9.
  3. ^ Kenneth S. Thomas; Harold J. McMann (2006). US Spacesuits. Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing Ltd. pp. 428–433. ISBN 0-387-27919-9.
  4. ^ Kenneth S. Thomas; Harold J. McMann (2006). US Spacesuits. Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing Ltd. pp. 428–429. ISBN 0-387-27919-9.
  5. ^ Kenneth S. Thomas; Harold J. McMann (2006). US Spacesuits. Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing Ltd. pp. 430–431. ISBN 0-387-27919-9.
  6. ^ Kenneth S. Thomas; Harold J. McMann (2006). US Spacesuits. Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing Ltd. pp. 432–433. ISBN 0-387-27919-9.
  7. ^ Kenneth S. Thomas; Harold J. McMann (2006). US Spacesuits. Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing Ltd. pp. 434–435. ISBN 0-387-27919-9.
  8. ^ Kluger, Jeffrey (October 12, 2018). "How Neil Armstrong's Moon Spacesuit Was Preserved for Centuries to Come". Time. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  9. ^ "How Do You Pick Up Something on the Moon?". WIRED. December 9, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2023.

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