Space Exploration
Space Exploration
Mock-Up A7L Spacesuit
Mock-Up Thermal Micrometeroid Garment (TMG) Cover Layer for A7L EV (Extra-vehicular)-Type Spacesuit, [Likely by International Latex Corporation], ca 1969.
Lot Closed
July 27, 02:20 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
MOCK-UP A7L SPACESUIT
MOCK-UP THERMAL MICROMETEROID GARMENT (TMG) COVER LAYER FOR A7L EV (EXTRA-VEHICULAR)-TYPE SPACESUIT, [LIKELY BY INTERNATIONAL LATEX CORPORATION], CA. 1969
White PTFE (Teflon)-coated Beta-cloth cover layer with quilted inner lining, approx. 62 inches tall, complete with removable bubble helmet, removable gloves with black rubber fingers, and removable boots. Large American flag patch to left shoulder, NASA meatball logo patch to right chest. Front of suit with a replica electrical connector and diverter valve (in blue), and 2 each of oxygen inlet and outlet connectors (2 in blue, 2 in red), placket over crotch area connecting with 4 snaps, arms and legs with storage pockets closing with snaps, neck and wrists with replica helmet and glove connector rings, zipper running from back of neck down to crotch area, zipper covered with Velcro flap. Inner padding and American flag patch with some discoloration. Previous repair evident to left knee pocket of suit. Some tearing in boot covers. Soiling to boot covers.
TOGETHER WITH: Plastic lunar overshoes, two additional external pouches with snap closures and buckled straps, commemorative plaque, examples of dehydrated food meant for consumption in space (fruit cake, coffee, and chocolate pudding).
For two excellent histories of spacesuit development, and in particular the development of the A7L, see Monchaux, Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo and Young, Spacesuits: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Collection.
RAI, Amsterdam, 1969.
Philips Museum, Amsterdam, 2017.
AN INTERNATIONALLY EXHIBITED MOCK-UP OF THE A7L SPACESUIT, THE SUIT USED TO WALK ON THE MOON DURING THE APOLLO 11 MISSION, MADE FOR DISPLAY LIKELY BY ILC DOVER, THE MANUFACTURER OF THE ACTUAL SPACESUITS
The International Latex Corporation, later known as ILC Dover, has been the designer and producer of the space suit pressure garment for NASA since the beginning of the Apollo program. They developed the first highly mobile space suit, the A7L, which made it possible for the astronauts to walk on the Moon; in fact, every American astronaut to go into space since the Apollo program did so in an ILC Dover suit. Each full suit took about 5,000 hours to complete, and cost approximately $1,000,000 to produce. The suits were tailor-made for the astronauts, and underwent rigorous testing and painstaking study to get just right.
The Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment (TMG) is the outer layer of a spacesuit, and served three purposes. First, to insulate the astronaut from the extreme cold of space, second, to protect them from solar radiation, and third, to protect them from micrometeoroids that could potentially puncture the suit and cause depressurization.
This spacesuit appears to be a very complete version of a Mock-up A7L, made by ILC Dover, which sold in these rooms in 2017 for $12,500 and in 2019 for $30,000.