posted 03-20-2006 07:19 PM               

"I had gotten to know Pete Conrad, the NASA astronaut who commanded the Apollo 12 mission, because he dabbled in road racing and had bought some of our products. One day Pete told me about a temperature-resistant material NASA was using to protect space capsules as they re-entered the earth's atmosphere. I asked Pete how I might be able to acquire some of the stuff, and he gave me the name of a person who could help. It turned out to be available in fabric form, and I was excited the moment I saw it. It was not only fire- resistant, it was also everthing our drag-suit material was not: It was light, it was flexible, and it breathed. It was clear to me immediatley that I had found something that could revolutionize our sport. The material was filament Nomex, and I was the first person to make a racing suit out of it. I took an old cotton driver's uniform and cut it apart; from there I made a pattern, put my ever-expanding sewing skills to work, and stitched up a suit out of Nomex".

As Bill indicates up until this time (1967) driver's wore cotton driver's suits that were dipped in a fireproof solution that offered little or no protection. Drag racers used suits made out of aluminized kevlar that were stiff, bulky, and did not breathe. The introduction of Nomex into auto racing was a huge advancement in driver's safety, all thanks to Pete Conrad and Bill Simpson.

posted 03-21-2006 05:52 PM               

Best of luck to your son with his rallying Brenda. I actually worked for Bill Simpson for 5 years. He's quite a character. He said Pete Conrad was one of the funniest guys he ever met! I wish I could have had a chance to meet him. The Apollo 12 crew is probably my favorite.

posted 03-21-2006 09:15 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by troyer500:
...Pete Conrad was actually responsible for introducing Nomex to auto racing. ... up until this time (1967)...

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Thanks for this interesting story. Of course, in 1967, Pete Conrad was familiar with the Gemini suits, which had a Nomex out layer (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_Spacesuit), and of course, the suits worn on the Block I version of Apollo, which were practically the same as the Gemini suits. After the Apollo fire, the suits worn on the Block II Apollo spacecraft had an outer layer of Beta cloth (see http://www.nasm.si.edu/galleries/attm/nojs/a11.om.1.html) because it was even more fire resistant than Nomex.

What I am really wondering is: when in 1967 did Conrad make the recommendation? After Jan. 27, 1967, he knew that their Nomex-covered suits hadn't saved Grissom's crew from the fire. However, he also knew that two of the three crewmen's suits had come through the fire largely intact, and besides, race cars probably wouldn't expose their drivers to quite the same temperatures.

Anyway, thanks for an interesting article!

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John Charles
Houston, Texas

typo corrected

posted 03-21-2006 11:02 PM               

I'll have to check with Bill on the exact date but it would have been early in 1967, prior to that year's Indianapolis 500. In his book Bill talks about how he took his first prototype Nomex suit to Indianapolis at the beginning of the month of May to show it to the drivers that were practicing for that year's Indy 500. The suit was so well received that he received orders for Nomex driving suits from both Goodyear and Firestone for their drivers. By the end of the month he had managed to make 60-70 suits and the majority of the 33 drivers in that year's Indy 500 were wearing his Nomex suits.

You bring up a good point about Apollo 1 since the fire happened in January of 1967. I still see Bill occasionally, the next time I run into him I'll ask him if Pete made any mention of the incident when they spoke.