Astronaut Attire: Mission-Ready Spacesuits, Gloves and Gear

Astronaut Attire: Mission-Ready Spacesuits, Gloves and Gear

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  Mock-Up A7L spacesuit, complete with bubble helmet, boots and gloves, circa 1969. Estimate $7,000–10,000.

  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.

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  Gemini G2-G prototype spacesuit gloves with working finger-tip lights, made for Alan Shepard, circa 1963. Estimate $8,000–12,000.

  Project Gemini was critical to the objective of landing a man on the moon, and the US astronauts were given a variety of tasks that were not assigned to the previous project Mercury, including conducting spacewalks. As such, their suits needed to be adapted to the new program requirements. In 1962, the Manned Spacecraft Center awarded contracts to B.F. Goodrich for the development of a pressure suit system. B.F. Goodrich completed the G2-G model in January of 1963, however the suit was rejected by NASA in favor of a suit designed by the David Clark Company. NASA did decide to retain B.F. Goodrich’s helmet, gloves – shown here, outfitted with small, still functional light-bulbs in their fingertips.

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  Omega, Speedmaster, Ref 145.022 'Prototype Alaska III', A stainless steel chronograph wristwatch, made in 1978, Estimate $70,000–90,000.

  The Omega Speedmaster is arguably one of the most iconic sports watches to ever come to market, and was the leading choice of astronauts for more than five decades. This lot is an example of an iteration of the Alaska III, which was delivered to NASA in three different variations; the version with the manual caliber 861 was the successful winner for re-qualification of space flight use. The watches all had American made cases and featured a black dial with radial indexes on the subdials. This timepiece survives in very good, unpolished condition with the original lugs, the design slightly different than production model versions, with crisp definition and a clean and untouched dial.

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  Apollo prototype SPD-117 spacesuit, International Latex Corporation, circa 1962. Estimate $6,000–9,000.

  The SPD-117, sometimes referred to as "The Apollo State-of-the-Art Suit" was the very first spacesuit by the International Latex Corporation (ILC) to be assessed by NASA, and was the archetype for all subsequent Apollo spacesuits (though ILC had originally submitted it to NASA for the Mercury suit contract). While ILC did not win the contract for the Mercury Suits (B.F. Goodrich did), they were awarded a study contract to develop suits towards the lunar program, including the SPD-134 and the AX-1L.

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  Apollo Advanced Lunar Eva prototype glove, made for Russell Schweickart, circa 1966. Estimate $3,000–5,000.

  Intended as an alternate EVA suit for the Apollo 15-17 missions, this glove was ultimately not used. The Smithsonian has only two suits identified as the S-1026 model, which they refer to as a "mystery" suits; they note that theirs is not intended for use outside of the spacecraft, as it does not have the hook-ups for a Portable Life Support System, indicating that their example is a suit made for a Command Module Pilot, whereas the present glove was intended to be used by a Mission Commander of Lunar Module Pilot, who would have both ventures outside of the spacecraft on an EVA.

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  Archive of photographs documenting spacesuit testing, circa 1958-1975. Estimate $3,000–5,000.

  As NASA progressed from Project Mercury through to Gemini and Apollo, the spacesuits adapted along with evolving program requirements, always with the critical aim to protect the astronauts against the extreme conditions of space travel while maintaining an adequate degree of comfort and functionality. This extensive archive offers a glimpse into the testing of spacesuits to be used in the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. Components of the certification process shown include donning procedures, strength and functionality tests (including dexterity and mobility), demonstrations of Beta cloth capabilities, and the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU), including the Modular Maneuvering Unit (MMU) and Emergency Life Support System (ELSS).

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  Apollo prototype A6l spacesuit, International Latex Corporation, 1967. Estimate $6,000–9,000.

  The A6L was essentially the flight version of the A5L suit and was designed to prevent micrometeroids from puncturing the inner pressure bladder worn by astronauts during EVAs. Until the tragic Apollo 1 fire in 1967, the A6L was the suit configuration intended for use on the lunar surface. The fire triggered a review of the suit's design, which resulted in modifications including a Beta-cloth fire-protection layer, as well as the suit being changed from a two-piece into a one-piece configuration. The A6L configuration never ended up being used on the lunar surface, and essentially became an Apollo training and developmental stage for the A7L series of suits.

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