It's important to know where our current day space suits came from. In the timeline you will see the first attempts at space suits up until our current day space suits.
The first spacesuit designed for humans. In reality the suit is just a modified high altitude and pressure jet suit. They added Neoprene coated nylon on the inside of the suit and aluminized nylon on the outside. Neoprene belongs to the family of synthetic rubbers whilst nylon belongs to the family of synthetic polymers. Believe it or not nylon was first introduced commercially as bristles on tooth brushes.
Astronaut John Glenn was the first american to orbit the earth. The mercury suit was also the first space suit to also do this.
The Gemini space suit was created by Ed White which went on to be the first suit in an American spacewalk. Unlike the Mercury suit this one was made to be flexible when pressurized. This allowed the man inside to be able to move. Unlike the Mercury suit which would become stiff if exposed to space.
This is a suit many people are familiar with. It's the suit which got to the moon. The Apollo suit was being made to be able to withstand the harsh environment and temperature of the moon. Since previous suits were only meant for space exposure not walking on planets. The Apollo suit had a excursion restraint harness on it. This let the astronaut bend over and pick up rocks without tearing. This suit was used between 1968 and 1975. The suit consisted of two layers one for regulating body temperature and the other for protection against radiation. The suit was made up of: A water-cooled nylon undergarment A multi-layered pressure suit inside layer - lightweight nylon with fabric vents middle layer - neoprene-coated nylon to hold pressure outer layer - nylon to restrain the pressurized layers beneath Five layers of aluminized Mylar interwoven with four layers of Dacron for heat protection Two layers of Kapton for additional heat protection A layer of Teflon-coated cloth (nonflammable) for protection from scrapes A layer of white Teflon cloth (nonflammable)
Originally called "Apollo Saturn" the Apollo 1 suit was first tested on a launch pad test on January 27th. There was a cabin fire during the test and all members perished during it. Since the suit wasn't fire proof the flame quickly spread to the suit. After the incident engineers tried to figure out what went wrong. Project Apollo was postponed for 20 months to allow researchers to resolve the issues.
Apollo 7 was the first manned space launch after the Apollo 1 incident. The new Apollo suit had been upgraded to be much more flexible and to be fire proof. While the visual aspects of it remained pretty much the same, the utility of it had been upgraded vastly. The flight was manned by: Commander Walter Schirra, Donn Eilise and Walter Cunningham. Their flight was a huge success and lasted 10 days. Later in 2008 the team was awarded "NASA's distinguished service medals" for their contribution to to the Apollo program.
Apollo 11, the space walk everyone knows about. Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first humans on the Moon, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Using the new Apollo suit which was the product of many years of work, they walked on the moon. All Apollo suits before this one were not made for the moon, but for spacewalking.
The first space shuttle suit was worn when the first shuttle flight, STS-1, lifted off on April 12, 1981, astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen wore the in the image. It's a modified version of a US Air Force high-altitude pressure suit.
Strange name but it makes sense, this familiar shuttle suit was widely know for its bright orange color. The Pumpkin suit was a vast upgrade from the first shuttle suit. It had a life support system, axillary oxygen, a life raft and survival gear.
The MK3 suit was developed by NASA as a improvement on the past Apollo suits. Even though the MK 3 is heavier than the apollo suits it is more mobile, and is designed for a relatively high operating pressure. It is also equipped with a advanced life support system.
A suit still in development, NASA says that the Z suit will be the suit that's the easiest to get into. Its novelty's are largely in the flexible areas, fitted with bearings in the waist, hips, upper legs. Equipped with all of the new materials found in the complex inner suit, which includes urethane coated nylon to keep in air and polyester to help the suit hold its overall shape. Though the suit isn't currently polished enough to go on a space walk, it is presumed that the Z suit will be able to do it by 2017. Also as many of you have noticed it kind of reminds you of someone. Yeah that's right, Buzz light year.
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