Page 23 - All About History - Issue 16-14

Transport

HELMET BACKPACK

SEEING THE MOON THROUGH A THE PACK THAT PROVIDED AIR AND WATER
GOLDFISH BOWL The backpack was known as the Primary Life Support System, or PLSS.
The suit’s helmet was It provided breathable air, removed carbon dioxide from the air
designed to provide as much system, maintained suit pressure and stored 3.9 litres (1.03
visibility as possible for the gallons) of water. This essential bit of kit allowed astronauts to
astronauts. Unlike earlier remain on the surface for up to eight hours at a time.
spacesuits, there was no visor,
as the helmet was covered
in a reflective coating. The
helmet connected to the neck
of the suit via airtight metal
ring connectors.
THE
Anatomy

CONTROL UNIT of

THE LITTLE BOX ESSENTIAL
FOR SURVIVAL
The Remote Control Unit
situated on the suit’s chest AN APOLLO 11
allowed the astronauts to
control their life-support
systems as well as their radio
communications. The unit
also acted as a mount for ASTRONAUT
the Hasselblad cameras the
astronauts used to take the
now iconic pictures of them
on the Moon.
A LAYER INSIDE TAKING TRANSPORT OUT
THE SUIT OF THIS WORLD

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PUNCTURE 1969, THE COSMOS
Micrometeorites just
millimetres in size rain down
on the Moon all the time –
some of these fall fast enough
to threaten to put a hole in a
spacesuit and thus seriously
threaten an astronaut’s life.
Inside the suit astronauts GLOVES
wore an Integrated Thermal
Micrometeoroid Garment that PROTECTIVE BUT DEXTEROUS AT THE SAME TIME
protected from meteorites as An important part of the Apollo missions was to pick up and bring home
well as thermal radiation from samples of lunar rock and dust for scientific research. In order to be able
the rays of the Sun. to pick these up, as well as do things like grip the handrail down from the
landing craft, the glove’s blue fingertips were made of silicone rubber.

BOOTS SPACE SUIT

ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN…
One of the most famous THIS SUIT WAS MADE FOR BOUNCING
photographs from the Apollo Wearing the spacesuit on Earth would feel like it was crushing the person
missions is that of Neil inside it – the suit weighed 91 kilograms (200 pounds). However, on the
Armstrong’s boot print in Moon gravity is only 17 per cent that of Earth, so the suit weighed only 15
the lunar dirt. The boots kilograms (34 pounds) and the astronauts were able to hop and bounce
contained an inner pressure around. After the Apollo 1 fire disaster that took the lives of astronauts Gus
boot, a flexible sole and an Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Edward White in 1967, NASA made all their
© The Art Agency/Ian Jackson
outer boot made of mylar, spacesuits fire-retardant, using a special silica cloth called Beta Cloth.
which was covered in a fabric
containing stainless steel.

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