Pressure Suit, A7-LB, Irwin, Apollo 15, Flown

This spacesuit was made for, and worn by James Irwin, lunar module pilot of the Apollo 15 mission that landed two men on the moon in July, 1971. This was the first mission to use the lunar roving vehicle.

The suit was constructed by the International Latex Corporation, with the designation A-7LB, and consisted of approximately 26 layers of materials designed to protect the astronaut from the extremes of temperature to be found in the vacuum of space and on the lunar surface. When combined with the portable life support system and other components making up the extravehicular mobility unit, it all weighed approximately 185 pounds here on earth.

Transferred from NASA - Johnson Space Center in 1974.

On July 26, 1971, the crew of Apollo 15 launched from pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center on the 7th mission to the moon. The command module "America" docked with the lunar module "Challenger" for the final journey to the lunar surface, where it landed in the deep Taurus-Littrow Valley on the Sea of Serenity, just 300 ft from the target landing sight. It was the fourth lunar landing.

The spacesuit worn by astronaut Jim Irwin on the lunar surface was designed to provide a life-sustaining environment during periods of extra vehicular activity or during unpressurized spacecraft operation. It permitted maximum mobility and was designed to be worn with relative comfort for up to 115 hours in conjunction with the liquid cooling garment. It was also capable of being worn for 14 days in an unpressurized mode.

To ensure the maximum mobility and comfort for the astronaut, the suits were custom fitted. The astronaut entered from the rear, through the pressure sealing slide fastener opening. Two zippers - one acting as a restraint and the other that is the pressure-sealing zipper, run from the upper front of the chest around the waist to the lower chest - were used to close the suit. Convoluted joint sections of rubber were located in the shoulders, elbows, knees, hips and ankles. This enabled relatively easy movement while the suit was pressurized. From the inside out, the suit was constructed of a nylon comfort layer, a neoprene-coated nylon pressure bladder and nylon restraint layer. The outer layers of the spacesuit consisted of Nomex and Teflon-coated Beta cloth, followed by two layers of neoprene-coated nylon, layers of Beta/Kapton spacer laminate, and an outer layer of Teflon-coated Beta cloth. During the EVA periods, a liquid-cooling garment was worn closest to the skin, replacing the constant-wear garment worn while in the spacecraft.

The pressure helmet was a transparent bubble designed to attach to the spacesuit neck ring. It was constructed of a transparent polycarbonate shell with a red anodized aluminum neck ring, a feed port, a vent pad at the rear through which oxygen passed into the helmet. A valsalva device was attached to the inner part of the neck-ring - this was so the astronauts could 'pop' their ears during launch if needed - they could also use it to scratch their noses.

The A7-LB Lunar Extravehicular Visor Assembly consisted of a polycarbonate shell onto which the beta-cloth cover, visors, hinges, eyeshades and latch are attached. It consists of two visors, one covered with a thermal control coating (UV) and the other with a gold optical coating. It had one center and two side sunshields which could be raised and lowered independently of the other two visors. This visor was worn over the pressure helmet and fastened with a latch during EVA periods, and provided impact, micrometeoroid, thermal, ultraviolet and infrared light protection.

The Extravehicular gloves were built of an outer shell of Chromel-R fabric and thermal insulation to provide protection when handling extremely hot and cold objects. The blue fingertips were made of silicone rubber to provide more sensitivity. They were attached to the spacesuit with the same locking mechanism as the intra-vehicular gloves.

The Intra-vehicular gloves were made with a bladder, dip molded from a hand cast of the individual's hand. The interior had an inner restraint core of nylon tricot, which had been dipped in a neoprene compound. A convoluted section was incorporated into the wrist, with anodized aluminum connectors for attachment to the spacesuit. A fingerless glove restraint was attached to the bladder at the wrist and enclosed the entire hand excluding the fingers and thumb.