Since the beginning of project Apollo, ILC has been the designer and producer of the space suit pressure garment for NASA. Our engineers and technicians helped make history when they developed the first highly mobile space suit (Apollo A7LB) that allowed Astronauts to walk on the lunar surface in the late 1960s. We are again putting our engineers and technicians to the test to develop the next generation suit for the Constellation program that will return mankind to the moon.
We are proud of our achievements in human spaceflight, and our on-going work to provide suits to support the operation of the International Space Station (ISS). Our extensive history in space suit programs (Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle, ISS, and now Constellation) programs has kept our team at the forefront of mobility joint design, material developments, fabrication and test techniques, and quality procedures which has served to create an impressive record of safe and reliable suits to enable exploration.
Download Our Space Suit Information Package: suitinfo.zip 1.2MB
Apollo
- Used for IVA During Trans Lunar Flight
- Used for All Lunar EVA & Transfer Vehicles
- Custom Fit, Pure O2, Water Cooled, 3.8 psid
- 160 hrs on Lunar Surface
- Operational Environment: -250°F to +250°F, Lunar Dust, micrometeoroids, radiation
- Used for all Space Shuttle EVA
- Individual components (arms, torso, etc.) assembled to fit crew
- Pure O2, Water Cooled, 4.3 psid
- Continuing Glove Improvements
- Operational Environment: Payload Bay - Low Earth Orbit (LEO), -250°F to +250°F, micrometeoroids, radiation
- (ISS) Used for all Space Station EVA
- Redesigned for Greater Mobility, On Orbit Change-out of components, Greatly Increased Cycle Life
- Pure O2, Water Cooled, 4.3 psid
- Heated Glove with Better Tactile Capabilities
- Operational Environment: ISS - Low Earth Orbit (LEO), -250°F to +250°F, micrometeoroids, radiation
- Developed for use on Space Station as a Zero-Prebreathe Suit (ZPS)
- High mobility rear entry suit with hard and soft mobility joints
- Pure O2, Water Cooled, designed for 8.3 psid
- High Pressure 8.3 psi Hardsuit (No Prebreathing)
- Designed for Lightweight, High Mobility surface operations in gravity
- Multiple configurations developed including waist and rear-entry
- Pure O2, Water Cooled, 4.3 psid
- Operational Environment: Fractional Gravity, Dust
- Shuttle EMU Dual Seal Waist Bearing
- MK III 8.3 PSI Spacesuit Development and Evaluation Team
- STS 49 Real Time Support
- INTELSTAT VI EVA Recovery
- Hubble Repair Mission
- Laser Hand Scan for Enhanced Glove Fabrication
- EMU Spacesuit Glove Thermal Protection
- MIR Space Station Specialized Flight Hardware Design, Fabrication, Test, and Evaluation
- STS-74 Shuttle/MIR LiOH Canister Adapter Team
- International Space Station - Development of the Safety Tether Reel Assembly (STA)
- STS-116 Shock Hazard Team to free the ISS Solar Array
- Cut Glove Team
This is the astronauts' personal award. To qualify for this award, eligible candidates will have made contributions toward enhancing the probability of mission success, or made improvements in design, administrative/technical/production techniques, business systems, flight and/or systems safety or identification and correction or preventive action for errors. This award is generally not intended for management.
7 Space Flight Awareness Honoree AwardsThis award is one of the highest presented to NASA and industry and is for first-level management and below. This award is presented to employees for their dedication to quality work and flight safety. To qualify, the individuals must have contributed beyond their normal work requirements to achieve significant impact on attaining a particular human space flight program goal; contributed to a major cost savings; been instrumental in developing modification to hardware, software, or materials that increase reliability, efficiency, or performance; assisted in operational improvements; or been a key player in developing a beneficial process improvement.
2 RNASA Stellar Award NominationsThe Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Foundation Stellar Awards were established to recognize outstanding individuals and teams from industry and government who have made significant contributions to the future of our nation's space program.
At ILC we are constantly advancing technology used in space suits to improve crew safety and performance while reducing life-cycle cost. We have implemented numerous technologies into the space suit over decades of development in mobility joint design, closure mechanisms, gloves, materials, etc. We continue to study and advance new technologies for space suits through internally funded research and in cooperation with NASA. Many of these technologies are applicable to other inflatable structures such as habitats, ballutes, airships, and protective equipment. Several advanced technologies under development at ILC are noted here.
