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Author
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Topic: Apollo A7L spacesuit: Velcro and snap buttons
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chameloon
Member Posts: 44
From: Europe
Registered: Jan 2014
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posted 03-09-2014 10:42 AM
  
What was the use of those Velcro stripes and snap buttons on A7L suits? Was it originally for a cloth cover to protect the connectors? If so, why wasn't it used? Thanks!  |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 03-09-2014 01:00 PM
As the A7L was designed for EVA perhaps these help to attach the chest pack they wore? |
chameloon
Member Posts: 44
From: Europe
Registered: Jan 2014
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posted 03-09-2014 02:13 PM
You mean the RCU? If so, no, it was attached with the help of the straps coming from the PLSS. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-09-2014 02:22 PM
quote:
Originally posted by chameloon:
Was it originally for a cloth cover to protect the connectors?
Yes, apparently, it was carryover from the A6L suit design, which included a sleeve to cover the umbilicals. The sleeve was never used in flight, but the attachments for it remained. |
drifting to the right
Member Posts: 114
From: SW La.
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted 03-09-2014 03:03 PM
The attachments are indeed for a connector cover, and it was used, as far as I know, only during training. Neil Armstrong's was listed for auction in the May 2001 Christie's catalog, and the same one sold at the July 2009 Bonham's auction. The attached label reads in part, "Item I/TMG Connector Cover, Part No. A7L-
201 109-01, Size ARMSTRONG, Serial No. 063". |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-09-2014 03:16 PM
The Christie's description offers more details: The connector cover was used to protect these [electrical, oxygen and water] connections during certain training exercises and while the suit was not in use during flight and between training periods. It was initially planned to be a means of protection from lunar dust collecting and possibly disabling the connectors. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3207
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-08-2015 06:38 PM
Rusty Schweickart seems to be wearing a cover over the velcro and snap buttons in Apollo 9 launch day photo 69-H-405. So was Jim McDivitt. He can be seen wearing a similar cover in launch day walkout photo S69-25883. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3207
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-09-2015 06:04 AM
The covers can also be seen in pre-launch photo S69-17590. |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 01-09-2015 03:58 PM
I'm confused by those photos, which seem to show a cover for everything BUT the connectors. The connectors appear to push through holes in the top cover but also appear to be on top of the cover near the bottom. And Dave Scott in S69-17590 doesn't appear to have connectors or a cover on his suit. If Dave's connectors are somehow hidden and covered it's not the same cover with the corded edge as the others. Huh? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3207
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-10-2015 05:23 AM
quote:
Originally posted by garymilgrom:
And Dave Scott in S69-17590 doesn't appear to have connectors or a cover on his suit.
Scott's suit connectors are hidden behind McDivitt's left arm in that photo. They can be seen in photo KSC-68PC-302. It doesn't look like Scott is wearing a cover. |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 01-10-2015 07:12 AM
With all due respect I don't think so. The connectors seem aligned around the centerline of the suit - one set right of center, the other left. The latter is approximately under the patch. Scott's suit has nothing there, so if he has connectors they run down the center of the suit, and I just don't see anything bulging out to indicate that. Please see below. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3207
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-10-2015 07:37 AM
The A7L CMP suit does not have connectors on the left side. Just three on the right side. Can we get a third opinion here? |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1211
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 01-10-2015 09:10 AM
CMP only had connectors on one side before Apollo 15. They didn't need the PLSS connections that the EV suits had, only for inside the capsule. The A7LB CMP used on the J missions did have connectors on both sides, but one fewer on each side.See page 7: Space Suit Evolution |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 01-10-2015 09:35 AM
That would explain it. Thank you gents. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3207
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-11-2015 12:02 AM
Armstrong and Aldrin were wearing covers over the velcro strips in the Apollo 11 crew portrait.Schweickart wore the cover on his Apollo 9 EVA. But lunar surface photos seem to indicate that the A7L moonwalkers did not. |
drifting to the right
Member Posts: 114
From: SW La.
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted 01-11-2015 10:40 AM
Somethin's amiss here. The connector cover I thought actually covered up the chest fittings, as well as the proximal aspects of the connector hoses. Were there two types? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3207
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-11-2015 06:27 PM
Even with the covers on that Armstrong and Aldrin are wearing in the photo, there are still unused snap buttons near the connectors. At least four buttons that I can see. |
DG27
Member Posts: 173
From: USA
Registered: Nov 2010
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posted 01-13-2015 01:59 AM
The A7L suit coverlayer had several configurations during the life of the program. There were IVA, IVA to EVA, EVA to IVA, and EVA configurations for the TMG coverlayer. Also TMG configurations of earlier suits differed from that of later suits. So we need to keep in mind which suits are being compared since the TMG configurations varied. The early A7L suits (as shown in the Apollo 9 crew photo) do not show the connector cover panel. Instead the photo actually shows what is a center panel of the torso TMG which is separate from the rest of the torso TMG and is attached to the suit (pressure garment assembly) under the gas hose connectors. This allows the torso TMG to be removed for cleaning & repair with out disturbing the integrity of the gas connectors as the torso coverlayer is attached to the center panel by loop tape and lacing around the perimeter of the center piece. This may look similar to the protective TMG connector cover of which the suit attachment points were the original topic of this thread, but it is actually a different part of the TMG. Later TMG configurations discarded this approach and the TMG torso was one piece and attached to the pressure garment assembly under the gas hose connectors. Also on later suits, the the protective TMG connector cover panel was intended to provide thermal protection of the connectors since the backside of the metal gas connectors protruded into the interior of the suit and was a thermal path into the suit to the crew. When on an EVA (free space or lunar surface) the intent was to cover all metal connectors so the crew would not be exposed to hot metal parts of a connector heated by solar radiation. Wrist rings were covered with the gauntlet of the EVA glove cuff, and the suit neck ring was covered by the TMG skirt of the EEVA or LEVA helmet covers. At some point it was determined that the chest connector cover was not needed. Not sure when or how that decision came about. Also, keepp in mind the official crew photos were often taken with the crew wearing a different suit from what they flew in. Hope this helps clarify some of the photos. |
drifting to the right
Member Posts: 114
From: SW La.
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted 01-13-2015 10:41 AM
Thank you, DG27, excellent clarification, and great additional insight regarding the metal heating concern. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3207
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-13-2015 11:01 AM
You can see the velcro strips and snap buttons on the A7L suits in the Apollo 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 launch day crew walkout photos. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3207
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-25-2015 10:57 PM
quote:
Originally posted by DG27:
the photo actually shows what is a center panel of the torso TMG which is separate from the rest of the torso TMG
The "chest cover" seen in this suit diagram from the Apollo 9 press kit seems to match that description. The diagram also shows the connector cover.
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