Bill Ayrey - Lunar Outfitters: Making the Apollo Space Suit

Courtesy ILC-Dover-LP-2020

B ILL A YREY was the manager of ILC Dovers Test Laboratory when he retired in 2019 after forty years of service. For much of his time there, he was responsible for testing the space suits the company made for NASAs space shuttles and the International Space Station. In his early years at ILC, he worked closely with veterans of the company who designed the Apollo space suits. He has also collected thousands of original documents related to the development and production of the Apollo suits. Over the past twenty years, he has assisted staff at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in their quest to understand and preserve the Apollo suits in their collection.

I wish to acknowledge the many ILC Industries employees who shared their Apollo memories with me over the past 40-plus years. Regardless of whether Ive met you or not, if you worked on the Apollo suits for ILC Industries or you were a family member that lived through these years, then this book is dedicated to you.

I believe I first realized how wonderful these stories were when Tom Sylvester hired me to work in ILCs test laboratory. Tom started at ILC as an Apollo suit test subject, and the film footage of Tom wearing the Apollo space suit on a football field as he demonstrated the mobility of the new model A-7LB moon suit while passing and kicking a football is my most memorable image of him. This film helped sell that model to NASA. Although Tom passed away recently, I could always count on him and his excellent memory to answer any questions I had about the Apollo suits and the challenges of the program.

I became good friends with others such as Apollo draftsman Sid Williams, who can tell some funny stories about what it was like to work at ILC during the 1960s and early 1970s. Many of these stories cannot be divulged because of the nature of the pranks and the situations folks got themselves into, but that was business back in the day. The result of behavior that happened fifty years ago would result in immediate termination in todays business world. In hindsight, I understand how this camaraderie resulted in a tighter bond between co-workers. Between the tension of the work schedule and the pressure to get it right, Sid and many others used humor and practical jokes to relieve the daily stress while turning out exceptional work.

John McMullen and Homer (Sonny) Reihm were deeply immersed in the program and I am greatly indebted for the help and stories they provided. Over the years, I turned to Mr. James McBarron, the NASA suit engineering representative that ILC interfaced with on a daily basis, for his perspective on the Apollo suit program. He provided great insight and inspiration. Richard McGahey, my boss for many years, shared his stories about the quality program he worked on and the many challenges he faced because the Apollo space suit was constantly under development and its engineering design and manufacturing challenges were so complex.

Special thanks are offered to the following Apollo veterans for their time in helping me gather the information and understanding I needed: Ron Bessette, George Gleadow, Al Gross, Richard Martin, Jim Miller, Frank Napolitano, Larry Ornston, Tim Parker, Austin Pase, Bob Penney, Dixie Rinehart, John Schieble, Ken Shane, and Ray Winward. Thanks to Russ Dion and Professor Ulrich (Ulli) Lotzmann for encouraging me as I pushed through this project. Your support was very much needed and appreciated.

Id like to thank Dr. Cathleen Lewis and Lisa Young of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) for inviting me into their world of space suit collections and preservation over the years. I cant leave out Amanda Young, who invited me to become part of her team at NASM in the late 1990s, when she took on the first challenges associated with the preservation of the suits in the collection. It was a daunting project, and she had laser vision when it came to carrying out the job. Her efforts laid the foundation for the collection today.

There are many other veterans Id like to acknowledge, but the list would go on for several pages. You know who you are, and I truly appreciate your help and input.

Finally, behind any project of this magnitude is often found the spouse who sacrifices valuable time together. Thanks go out to my wonderful wife, Cab, for her support. I couldnt have done it without you!

The Apollo space suits were technical marvels for their time. No mission was ever cut short due to a suit problem and no astronauts sustained any injuries other than perhaps some bruised fingernails. Considering the potential for serious injury or certain death if failure occurred, this is a remarkable outcome. It is attributed to the work of the ILC engineers, seamstresses, and, other ILC personnel involved. The marriage of soft-goods engineering and the skills of the seamstresses and model makers made for a challenging process that ILC eventually mastered as much as something this complex could ever be mastered in such a short period of time.

I attempt to address as many of the technical aspects of the Apollo suit as possible. When a system for any of the suits was common to several or all the models, I have included it in one or another model but not multiple models unless the design is significantly different.

The fecal containment unit, or FCU, was provided for containment of solid waste when the astronauts were confined within the suits for periods of time when they could not readily take them off. Later in the Apollo missions, NASA changed the requirements so that the FCU was not worn unless there was a chance a crew member would have to be pressurized within their suits for 115 hours, as was possible only on the lunar missions or if a decompression event occurred on the spacecraft.

Prior to putting the FCU on, the astronaut was required to apply what was called a Silicote ointment to the buttocks and the entire perianal region. This salve provided a barrier on the skin to protect from irritation due to contact with any waste matter that could potentially be there over a period of days. The directions were to apply about one-third of the contents of the tube, then put on the FCU garment.

Figure A.1. The fecal containment unit, a tight-fitting cotton brief that had absorbent layers. Courtesy NASA.

Figure A.2. Various layers of the fecal containment unit. Courtesy NASA.

Buzz Aldrin specifically mentioned his FCU in his book Return to Earth. As he was suiting up for the launch, he noticed that his grandfathers Masonic ring that he had been wearing for over a year was missing. His plan was to carry it with him to the moon and now it was gone. Before panic set in, he realized that he had taken it off as he was in the bathroom applying the required ointment. One of the flight doctors in attendance was good enough to run down to the restroom to retrieve the ring for Buzz.

The FCU garment was made of a two-way stretch fabric made of a blend of nylon, Spandex, and Olefin. The absorbency layer consisted of a plastic outer liner; a material known as Coform that absorbed water; a nonwoven, one-way layer; and a tricot liner. The garments were manufactured by Whirlpool Corporation in St. Joseph, Michigan.