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Author
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Topic: Apollo suit serial numbers in sequence
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3882
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-06-2020 11:26 AM
  
So I guess two of Shepard's A7L suits are on display at KSC: his Apollo 14 flown suit 090, and his Apollo 14 training suit 029.
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thisismills
Member Posts: 523
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 10-08-2020 06:56 PM
A grouping of suit fitting note cards for 90 astronauts are for sale in the current RR Auction. Maybe some hidden gems of information reside on these, only a few are photographed in the listing. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3882
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-08-2020 09:16 PM
I see at least two A7L suits on the fitting cards shown that could eventually be added to the spreadsheet:
- 018 - Bean: Apollo 12 training suit
- 070 - Bean: ASTP backup crew training suit
Interestingly, A7LB-322 is listed in image 10 as Charlie Duke's Apollo 16 Flight PGA, but the spreadsheet has John Young wearing that suit on the mission. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3882
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-09-2020 10:29 AM
The fitting card in image 7 mentions the arm and leg adjustments made to Scott's Apollo 15 flown A7LB-315 suit so Cernan could reuse it as his Apollo 17 training suit. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3882
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-14-2020 12:00 PM
Gary Johnson was another Apollo pressure suit test subject. He mentions this in his 2010 JSC Oral History Project interview: Yes, it was back when I was still in engineering working on Apollo. I had an interest in learning more about the space operations and NASA had a program where you could volunteer to be a test subject for testing of suits, so I volunteered. At the time I did that, the program was in the process of qualifying what they call the Apollo B suit.This was before we were launching the missions with the lunar rover. The original Apollo suit that the crews were using inside the Command Module, when you pressurized them they’d basically straighten you out. You couldn’t sit in a chair, because it didn’t have what they call a waist convolute. So the B suit was designed with a waist convolute so the crews could sit. Of course this was all designed around the fact that they were going to be sitting in the lunar rover and driving it. They had to requalify the suit for that and I was involved in some of the qualification tests. |
Rolf
Member Posts: 79
From: Netherlands
Registered: May 2007
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posted 10-20-2020 02:24 PM
The research done by LM-12 in September and October and information from Bill Ayrey's just-published book 'Lunar Outfitters' made it possible to supplement the spreadsheet. Here is the latest version. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3882
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-20-2020 09:27 PM
Photos show serial numbers marked on some of those suits: - 008 - Young: Apollo 13 backup crew training suit
- 017 - Gordon: Apollo 12 training suit
- 020 - McDivitt: Apollo 9 flight suit
- 025 - Anders: Apollo 8 training suit
- 029 - Shepard: Apollo 14 training suit
- 034 - Evans: Apollo 14 backup crew training suit
- 038 - Lind: EVA procedures
- 044 - Cernan: Apollo 10 flight suit
- 044 - Cernan: Apollo 14 backup crew training suit
- 051 - Haise: Apollo 13 training suit
- 059 - Mattingly: Apollo 13 training suit
- 075 - Lovell: Apollo 13 training suit
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Rolf
Member Posts: 79
From: Netherlands
Registered: May 2007
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posted 10-21-2020 08:00 AM
Continue your fantastic work with your "magnifying glass." This can make the spreadsheet even more complete! |
Rolf
Member Posts: 79
From: Netherlands
Registered: May 2007
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posted 10-27-2020 12:37 PM
Bill Ayrey's just-published book 'Lunar Outfitters' contains a table including the Model A-6L Apollo suits in use in July 1967. At least 12 of the astronauts in training for the first three Apollo flights have worn this type of suit during training. The numbers are now in the spreadsheet.Astronaut CLifton C. Williams was part of the back-up crew for the original D-Mission (later Apollo 9) as lunar module pilot. Shortly before the official announcement of this crew he died in a crash of his T-38 jet on October 5, 1967. His name has also been added to the latest version of the overview. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3882
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-28-2020 10:25 PM
There is an interesting photo on page 235 of the same book that shows Ed Mitchell wearing his lunar suit again after the flight at ILC Dover to troubleshoot a problem he was having with the right glove during the mission. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3882
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 11-03-2020 12:45 AM
Those are A7L suit numbers below their chins in this Apollo 13 training photo of Lovell and Haise. It is marked "A7L-075" on Lovell's suit and "A7L-051" on Haise's suit. Those training suit numbers were recently added to the spreadsheet.Suit 051 was also Haise's Apollo 8 backup crew primary suit. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3882
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 11-05-2020 03:18 PM
There was a museum photo on page 3 of Shepard's Apollo 14 training suit with the number "7-029" marked on the left shoulder near the flag.The number "7-029" can also be seen marked below the neck ring on the suit that Shepard is wearing in this Apollo 14 EVA training photo taken at KSC. |
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