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Author
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Topic: Caring for intervehicular Apollo gloves
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Charlie16
Member Posts: 494
From: Italy
Registered: Dec 2010
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posted 08-04-2017 05:07 AM
   
I have two Intravehicular Apollo gloves (McDivitt and Irwin). It was built with a bladder, full of a hand stem, with a nylon internal retention core that had been immersed in a neoprene compound. One in good condition while the other is hardened and tends to crumble. I do not want to do anything that can deteriorate the two gloves. For now I keep them safe from light and air (I can put them under vacuum, removing oxygen to block degradation, but they must make them soft. Does anyone know how to protect and soften? Thanks for help! |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 08-04-2017 06:13 AM
Luigi, I would suggest mailing the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum: they have after all spent the last 20 years or so conserving the national suit archive.In the mean time, might I suggest you try and keep the gloves in cool conditions (60 degrees or so) with an airflow over them. If kept in "stagnant" conditions the off gassing from the gloves will only hasten their degradation. Over the long term, I would also suggest finding and cutting pieces of Ethafoam to size and carefully placing them within the fingers and palm. I think further degradation is inevitable unless you are in a position to invest thousands to create an ideal environment for conservation. As the gloves degrade the Ethafoam should at least help to retain the shape and look of the gloves as the latex hardens. ILC Dover has on display John Young's Apollo 10 pressure suit. From memory they had to build a bespoke cabinet to specifications set out by the National Air and Space Museum at a cost of around $10,000. |
neo1022
Member Posts: 281
From: Santa Monica, CA
Registered: Jun 2013
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posted 08-04-2017 06:22 AM
I'm assuming you're referring to the ILC pressure gloves that sold recently on eBay. If so, congrats on the win!Those appear to be early prototypes — latex dipped fabric gloves, lacking the outer nylon shell and attachment rings. The Apollo gloves were pure rubber, without the fabric base. I wonder whether they were ever worn, or just sized for McDivitt and Irwin... Would be cool to contact ILC and see what they have to say... |
Altidude
Member Posts: 57
From:
Registered: Jan 2016
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posted 08-04-2017 10:38 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
ILC Dover has on display John Young's Apollo 10 pressure suit.
Is this the same pressure suit that was sold in auction almost 20 years ago? |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 08-05-2017 04:22 AM
The pressure suit on display at ILC has been loaned to them by the Smithsonian. It is Young's flight suit.When I say display, if my memory serves me right, it is in a corridor opposite a conference room. It is not an open exhibit for the general public. |
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