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Author
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Topic: Astronauts wearing the 'wrong' spacesuit
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-28-2019 08:58 AM
  
You don't often see an astronaut wearing someone else's suit, but there are a few such photos. Here is Joe Kerwin wearing Rusty Schweickart's A7LB Skylab suit. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3452
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-28-2019 10:00 PM
I don't know if it was the complete spacesuit, but there's a promo image of "Black Stars in Orbit" showing Guy Bluford, Fred Gregory, and Ron McNair in Apollo spacesuits. McNair is clearly wearing gloves marked "Brand." |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-29-2019 12:11 AM
There is a photo of Apollo 13 CMP Jack Swigert wearing an A7L-EVA suit during training. Could not read the name tag, but my guess is that Swigert was wearing backup LMP Charlie Duke's spacesuit.Unfortunately that photo link is broken, and I have not seen the same image anywhere else.
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Andy Anderson
Member Posts: 97
From: Perth, Australia
Registered: Dec 2009
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posted 08-29-2019 01:21 AM
While looking for the "Swigert in Duke" suit, I found this one of "Duke in Aldrin" suit during Apollo 13 training. |
Philip
Member Posts: 6090
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 08-29-2019 03:57 AM
Remember seeing Gene Cernan training for Apollo 17 lunar EVA wearing the moon-flown Apollo 15 spacesuit of David Scott... |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-29-2019 05:23 AM
Had not seen that "Duke in Aldrin" photo before.There is this 2001 photo of STS-105 commander Scott Horowitz wearing a Sokol suit on the ISS. There is a Russian flag on the suit arm. There are some STS-89 photos of Andrew Thomas wearing David Wolf's Sokol suit.
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Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4337
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 08-29-2019 05:31 PM
This is the Apollo 15 flown Dave Scott suit being used by Gene Cernan in training for Apollo 17. A favourite image of mine. The image of Charlie Duke in the Aldrin suit illustrates well NASA's make do and recycle approach to suits back in the day. The gloves Charlie is wearing are an early design circa 67 or 68 and are missing the blue silicone finger tips. Crew Systems clearly thought... oh these will do!  |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-29-2019 06:04 PM
Rusty Schweickart's flown Apollo 9 suit was reused as Joe Engle's training suit on the Apollo 14 backup crew. Stuart Roosa's flown Apollo 14 suit was modified and reused as his training suit on the Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 backup crews. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-30-2019 05:18 AM
Ken Mattingly wore Frank Borman's spacesuit during a vacuum test of the PLSS inside the altitude chamber at MSC in June 1968. At the time, the plan was for Rusty Schweickart to perform an EVA on the Earth orbital Apollo 8 mission. |
MSS
Member Posts: 850
From: Europe
Registered: May 2003
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posted 08-30-2019 05:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Hart Sastrowardoyo:
McNair is clearly wearing gloves marked "Brand."
Is this image? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-05-2019 01:53 AM
Cosmonaut Vitali Sevastyanov wore an Apollo spacesuit during a 1970 Skylab underwater EVA training exercise with Rusty Schweickart in the neutral buoyancy facility at the Marshall Space Flight Center. From the JSC Oral History Project interview with Schweickart:
So sure enough, it happened. That night I was briefing Vitali on all this stuff that I could brief him on, and the next morning we got him in the suit room and got him all checked out on how the suit worked and how it functioned and the backpack, and they had never done this at that time. And Vitali went under water with me. We got him all weighted out and neutrally buoyant, and I sort of stuck him in the airlock and had him hand film canisters out. I was out changing film on the end of the Apollo telescope mount. So we went through this thing, an hour under water, and came back out. Everything worked fine, and it was just, you know, a great experience...First cosmonaut ever in a U.S. space suit. It was fun. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-05-2019 05:07 PM
Fred Haise and Grumman pilot George Dowling are suited up in photo 68-H-690 for a LM altitude chamber test in August 1968. Hard to read the name tags, but it looks like Haise is wearing Joe Kerwin's suit, and Dowling is wearing Vance Brand's suit. Notice the 2TV-1 patches.
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-06-2019 11:03 AM
Dowling is also wearing Brand's spacesuit in Photo of the Week 172. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-12-2019 08:27 AM
Also worth mentioning here: Dan Schaiewitz wearing Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 training suit. And Gene Cernan's Apollo 14 training suit.
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Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4337
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 09-13-2019 06:17 AM
Dan's exploits don't really qualify in my opinion for this thread. The astronauts featured already (except for Anna Fisher) had suits made for them but were pictured wearing a suit made for somebody else. Support personnel including Dan did not have his own suits.... unless Dan is keeping something from us!  The only exception I am aware of was Tom Sylvester's suit: Tom was a test subject at ILC during the development of the A7L. His suit (minus all the hardware) is currently in storage at the Kansas Cosmosphere. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-13-2019 06:40 AM
The A7LB suit may not have been made for Fisher, but it does have her name on it. It looks like it is sewn on. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-13-2019 08:07 AM
Photo S71-59425 shows Jim McDivitt wearing an A7LB suit, although he did not wear one in space. His name tag is velcroed on. There are similar A7LB portrait photos of Jack Swigert and Ron Evans. Odd, but Rusty Schweickart is wearing a "VON EHRENFRIED" name tag on his spacesuit in this Skylab EVA training photo. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-17-2019 08:46 AM
It looks like Gene Cernan is also wearing David Scott's Apollo 15 flown spacesuit in this Retro Space Image Apollo 17 training photo. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-17-2019 10:21 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
The only exception I am aware of was Tom Sylvester's suit
Manfred "Dutch" von Ehrenfried was a NASA Flight Controller and an Apollo pressure suit test subject. I guess Schweickart was wearing his suit. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4337
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 09-18-2019 03:00 AM
I am now aware of another test subject purpose made suit. Thank you.  |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-18-2019 04:32 AM
I do vaguely recall seeing a "SYLVESTER" name tag on a suit somewhere a few years ago.Here is the clip: Tom Sylvester dons his Apollo spacesuit at about the 3:20 point in the film.
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Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4337
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 09-18-2019 04:33 PM
Tom Sylvester's suit today is not looking its best but a historically significant suit none the less and the same one that features in the suit donning video. I think it is also the same suit used in the famous American football short film shot by ILC to demonstrate the suit's flexibility.Anna Fisher joined NASA in 1978: by that time ILC were perfecting the shuttle EMU and I don't believe they were making A7LB suits any more. I have seen no ILC records that indicate Dutch had a suit made especially for him. While he and Anna had their name tags stitched to the garments both suits were most certainly made originally for somebody else. Their respective serial numbers would probably tell us who.  |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-18-2019 11:38 PM
There was a photo of John Young donning an A7LB suit years after the Apollo program ended. Does anyone recall that? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-28-2019 10:43 PM
There is a low-res image of Apollo 10 backup commander Gordon Cooper wearing an A7L spacesuit during training. He had a primary suit and a training suit, but it looks like there was no name tag on the suit that he was wearing. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-17-2019 07:08 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
This is the Apollo 15 flown Dave Scott suit being used by Gene Cernan in training for Apollo 17.
That photo is dated June 8, 1972. Cernan's Apollo 17 flight suit was number 328. His backup suit was number 330. His training suit (Scott's Apollo 15 flight suit) was number 315. Later images like KSC-72PC-498 dated August 24, 1972 show Cernan training in what looks like a pristine suit. So is that his backup suit, or did he actually have two training suits? |
heng44
Member Posts: 3495
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 10-22-2019 01:01 PM
Gordon Cooper as Apollo 10 backup commander. John Young wearing the A7LB in 1991.  
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Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4337
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 10-22-2019 01:25 PM
Unique images Ed. Thank you. |
Rolf
Member Posts: 77
From: Netherlands
Registered: May 2007
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posted 10-22-2019 03:34 PM
For your information, Apollo, Skylab and ASTP suit serial numbers (spreadsheet). Additions and corrections are welcome. |
heng44
Member Posts: 3495
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 10-23-2019 09:34 AM
Apollo 12 backup LMP Jim Irwin wore a suit with a Cunningham nametag during an altitude chamber test on May 23, 1969. During the same test backup CDR Scott wore a CMP suit with only one row of chest connectors, presumably an Apollo 9 suit. Both had a blue neck ring. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-23-2019 10:14 AM
That's an odd one.Apollo 15 CMP Al Worden was wearing an A7L suit in training photo S71-21324. The "wrong" suit for a J-mission. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4337
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 10-23-2019 03:36 PM
Unless I am mistaken, the CMP on later missions stuck with the A7L suits. The A7LB suits were intended for the extended EVA missions (CDR and LMP) because of greater flexibility, longer stay on the lunar surface, comfort etc etc. Some parts of the A7L suit were none the less up rated from earlier missions ie the IVA gloves. |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1533
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 10-23-2019 07:46 PM
You're not mistaken Rick.
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-23-2019 08:55 PM
It looks like Worden is wearing the type of suit that might have been worn for the cancelled H-mission, with velcro strips around the connectors and the NASA meatball on the right front of the suit. The neck ring in the photo looks blue.Did the Apollo 15 crew have three suits each for the cancelled H-mission? |
Mike Dixon
Member Posts: 1533
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003
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posted 10-23-2019 10:43 PM
Dave Scott's suit doesn't have the red commander stripes either. See also S-71-21326. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-23-2019 11:34 PM
Al Worden's primary suit (#081) on the Apollo 12 backup crew was re-used as his backup suit on the Apollo 15 prime crew. Maybe that is the suit in the photo.
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LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-24-2019 11:57 AM
Richard Gordon is seen in photo S69-56703 wearing Dave Scott's spacesuit in the CM simulator. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-25-2019 01:07 AM
quote:
Originally posted by heng44:
Apollo 12 backup LMP Jim Irwin wore a suit with a Cunningham nametag during an altitude chamber test on May 23, 1969.
Believe it or not, I actually found some film footage of that. The astronauts are incorrectly identified as the Apollo 11 backup crew. |
heng44
Member Posts: 3495
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 10-25-2019 06:00 AM
Nice find! |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 10-26-2019 12:52 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Mike Dixon:
Dave Scott's suit doesn't have the red commander stripes either.
Neither does John Young's suit in some Apollo 16 altitude chamber photos like KSC-71PC-0727. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3530
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 01-13-2020 01:36 PM
More additions: William Pogue wearing Aldrin's suit, and Charlie Duke wearing what might be Armstrong's suit; it's hard to read the name tag.
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