Smithsonian's Spacesuits: Number One On The Runway

The iconic NASA spacesuit didn't show up in astronauts' closets fully formed. Here, a small sampling of the many precursors held with reverence at the Smithsonian Museum.

Above, left to right:
Mark IV, B.F. Goodrich; Mark II – Model "O", B.F. Goodrich, 1956; Mark V – Modified, B.F. Goodrich, 1968; Mark II – Model "R", B.F. Goodrich, 1956

The spacesuits worn by the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts are among the most asked for, and asked about artifacts in the Smithsonian national collection. It is true that explorers of remote, inaccessible, and environmentally inhospitable regions of Earth (notably of the Arctic and Antarctic regions), and test pilots since the 1930s, have required specially designed clothing of various sorts. It is a testament to the extraordinary cultural significance of spaceflight, however, that spacesuits attract far more attention than the parkas, snow shoes, flight jackets, and even pressure-suits and "crash helmets" of Earth-and-air-bound explorers.

The popularity and interest in spacesuits, of course, reflects the extraordinary cultural status of spaceflight. While human spaceflight in the United States began as a direct extension of test-flying experimental, high-performance aircraft for the military, and owes much to the precedent and traditions of Arctic and Antarctic exploration, the placing of humans into orbit, and especially the act of walking about upon the surface of the moon during the 1960s and 1970s, has had direct and symbolic meaning to the American public that is hard to overestimate.

– Allan Needell, PhD National Air and Space Museum

Mercury Helmets, left to right: A4-H – Universal Hamilton Standard, 1964; Spd-143-1a Ax1-L Apollo Prototype, ILC Industries, 1963; GT-7 – Gemini Protective Helmet. 1965; Mercury – Training, Schirra, 1960

Left: A5-L – Apollo Prototype, ILC Industries, 1965; Right: A4-H – Apollo Developmental ILC for Hamilton Standard, 1964

Radiograph Image of A4-H "Universal" Helmet, Hamilton Standard, 1964 Ron Cunningham and Mark Avino

EX1-A – Mobility Demonstrations, AiResearch Corporation, 1969, Courtesy of NASA

Astronaut Ed White During First U.S. Spacewalk, Gemini 4 1965, Courtesy of NASA