posted 10-15-2013 02:13 PM               

...to put a man on the Moon, they needed a spacesuit that was rigid and durable enough to cope with the lunar terrain but also flexible enough to allow the astronauts to perform complex tasks.

Early designs weren't too promising and looked more like washing machines with arms than sophisticated spacesuits. Then it occurred to the engineers this need for rigidity and flexibility had been encountered before: by medieval armourers. And so began an urgent hunt for the finest examples of the armourers' art and, in 1962, that search brought them to the Tower of London and Henry's foot combat armour from 1520.

They found the suit's construction was truly incredible and were amazed at the way each plate linked flawlessly to the next while still allowing total flexibility. It was exactly what they needed for the Apollo Moon suits. In fact, when they saw the armour, one of the NASA team commented he wished they'd seen it sooner, since it would have saved them a lot of time and money.