posted 09-30-2010 04:41 PM               

The Space Store is pleased to announce an alliance with a Hollywood effects company for the design, creation and reproduction of an Apollo replica spacesuit similar to that of the A7L "Moon Suit" worn by Buzz Aldrin.

Our Apollo suit will offer the highest level of quality in terms of authenticity and durability offered anywhere in the world in the $2000-$2500 price range.

The Hollywood effects company currently produces an Apollo suit that is the most authentic on the market, but has a price tag that limits production numbers as well as a price-point that is too high for most would-be consumers.

This Apollo suit will include the spacesuit itself, Apollo boots, gloves, backpack, "Snoopy Cap" and helmet. The Space Store will carry this suit in inventory, as an "off the rack item," making it available to ship worldwide upon ordering. Typically, suits such as this on the market have been special order items, making the availability to meet customer and corporate event schedules often difficult at best.

The design is nearly completed and a prototype is in production now. A limited number of these suits are projected to be available this December. Other designs are planned, including the orange space shuttle launch and re-entry suit, and the possibility of a Mercury astronaut suit, and even a Russian spacesuit. Watch our site for pictures as they near completion.

About The Space Store:

The Space Store was founded in 1995 by radio personality and motivational speaker Dayna Steele, who is married to a former NASA pilot. The clicks-and-mortar store had a physical location across the street from NASA's Johnson Space Center. Current owner Brett Anderson bought the store in 2006. The Space Store now exists online only, with company headquarters located in Denver, Colorado. The Space Store carries the largest selection of NASA logo wear, space collectibles, flown-in-space artifacts and astronaut autographed items online.

posted 10-20-2010 01:09 PM               

Our Apollo suit will offer the highest level of quality in terms of authenticity and durability offered anywhere in the world in the $2000-$2500 price range.

posted 04-14-2011 01:57 AM               

They should be available for purchase in a month or so... yahoo!

posted 04-19-2011 11:34 PM               

We did another fit with the suits and added a gusset to the groin to relieve grabbing at the neck while crouching.

Backpacks are near finish. Fittings are being mounted to the suit.

The last of the patterning will happen this week. That is for the helmet cover.

The pictures I have right now are very dark, just need to lighten them up for you. Dom said he loves the feel of the suit, very sturdy cool and comfortable."

'Dom' is the model that is wearing the Space Shuttle Suit on our site...

posted 05-28-2011 05:50 PM               

The Apollo A7L 'Moon Suit' replica from ESProduction is now available and is exclusive only at The Space Store for purchase. The suit is a detailed replica of the iconic A7L "Moon Suit" worn by Apollo astronauts as they walked on the moon during Project Apollo. The suit is designed to be comfortable and durable to be worn for any occasion or event.

The Apollo A7L suit replica is the second in a line of limited ESProduction produced space suits based on the WonderWorks molds, patterns and designs. The Apollo suit includes the space suit itself, Apollo boots, gloves, backpack, "Snoopy cap" and helmet. The suit features heavy weight breathable cotton with overlocked seams, computer numerical control (CNC) machined cuffs and chest fittings, a helmet constructed from high impact thermoformed acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) as well as a number of authentic details referenced from actual Apollo A7L suits produced by NASA.

With several months in design and production, each component was designed and produced to surpass all Apollo replica suits on the market in this price range.

Suit Features:

• Suit Construction: Heavy weight breathable cotton with overlocked edges throughout, Thread is either double thick Cover Stitch threading or Industry standard Gutermann.

• Snoopy Cap: Upholstery foam is installed in "ear cups" and can be washed with complete cap. Elastic chin strap makes this a "one size fits all". Only the white fabric is a "four way stretch" to keep the fit and finish clean on everyone.

• Gloves: Heavy weight Denim Sewn and overlocked to Knit grey over-gloves. Inner gloves are sturdy Latex dipped Knit construction and are readily replaceable. Boning is attached at both seams to keep the Gauntlet up.

• Boots: Custom Pigmented cast urethane boot lower. Bonded upper cloth with Barge, an Industrial shoe makers contact cement. Double snaps for upper strap to adjust. Boots are meant to be worn with your own shoes for a more comfortable fit. The boots have a full bottom with blue tread. Nylon webbing adjustable strap is "sewn" through urethane lower with leather binding thread.

• Helmet: Constructed of High Impact Thermo Formed ABS Visor is Thermo-formed Poly(methyl methacrylate) This Helmet mold was designed specifically for The Space store.

• Backpack: The Backpack's filler is constructed of EPS Foam and is easily removable.

• Fittings: Chest fitting are CNC machined from Billet 6061 T6 Aluminum and anodized, than fitted with 30 LBS Rare Earth Magnets.

Wrist cuffs are CNC machined and fitted with easily replaceable 40 LBS Low profile Zip Ties

Extra long legs to accommodate the tallest person and can be trimmed as necessary (legs are to be slipped into Space Boots)

Industrial Nickel Plated brass snaps will not accidentally come undone.

Cleaning Instructions: Machine wash COLD for suit, gloves, snoopy cap, helmet cover, backpack. Remove all chest fittings and "fillers in Pockets" from suit before wash. Remove rubber gloves from costume outers before wash. Remove filler from backpack before wash. Hand wash warm for boots. Do not use bleach. Keep electronics away from chest pieces, they contain Rare Earth Magnets. Visor is Acrylic and can be polished if any scratching occurs.

The copyrighted suits are designed solely for personal use and collection -- they may not be used for film, TV, advertising or any other commercial use. Similar suits can be rented for such purposes from WonderWorks.

posted 05-28-2011 05:51 PM               

The Space Store will be exhibiting the first collector grade Apollo A7L suit replica from ESProduction at Spacefest III. The suit is a detailed replica of the iconic A7L "Moon Suit" worn by Apollo astronauts as they walked on the moon during Project Apollo. Buzz Aldrin, along with five other moonwalkers, will be present at the event for autographs.

By designing and producing the Apollo A7L replica, ESProduction aspired to the goal of creating "the most authentic NASA reproduction spacesuits in the world" at a price accessible to collectors. Prior to founding ESProduction, Eamonn and Sivorn Price created replicas primarily for use in film and television through WonderWorks, Inc. WonderWorks has also collaborated with NASA, the Smithsonian Museum and privatized aerospace companies to create true to life replicas, simulators and models for training, education and exhibition purposes.

"Before, you had to have the budget of a Hollywood movie studio or a government contractor in order to afford Sivorn and Eamonn's work," says The Space Store CEO Brett Anderson. "But through ESProduction, these high fidelity replicas are available to collectors and enthusiasts such as myself."

The Apollo A7L suit replica is the second in a line of limited ESProduction produced space suits based on the WonderWorks molds, patterns and designs. The Apollo suit includes the space suit itself, Apollo boots, gloves, backpack, "Snoopy cap" and helmet. The suit features heavy weight breathable cotton with overlocked seams, computer numerical control (CNC) machined cuffs and chest fittings, a helmet constructed from high impact thermoformed acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) as well as a number of authentic details referenced from actual Apollo A7L suits produced by NASA.

The copyrighted suits are designed solely for personal use and collection -- they may not be used for film, TV, advertising or any other commercial use. Similar suits can be rented for such purposes from WonderWorks.

The suit will be on display during Spacefest III from Fri. June 3 to Sun. June 5 in the Arizona Ballroom at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson, Arizona. This event is open to the public; general admission is $35 per day, with military and package discounts available.

For pricing and full specifications of the suit, visit thespacestore.com. The Apollo A7L replica will be available for purchase June 1, 2011.

posted 07-16-2011 10:03 PM               

Well, the suit is as described and shown in the photo a few posts ago. It consists of the following parts:

• Helmet with dark visor. The front portion of the white outer cover can be detached. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3

• Suit with hose fittings. Three fitting have magnets in the so as to attach the hoses to. Suit has a zipper at the rear. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3

• Boots (overshoes). Photos: 1

• Two part gloves: a blue inner glove, with a white and woolen outer glove. Photos: 1 | 2 | 3

• PLSS backpack with three hoses. Photos: 1 | 2

• Snoopy cap (no photos)

• The helmet doesn't sit well on the shoulders; it tends to rock either backwards or forwards, resting on your head. Suggest you modify the bottom part of the plastic frame with recesses, perhaps some foam, so that the helmet will sit easily and stable on the shoulders. I'm going to do something like that with mine.

  When I was doing my testing for the helmets I tried to keep in mind how the real astronauts would stand... Leaning forward as if the pack was very heavy, and in doing so kept the helmet forward. The Helmet we built VERY lite weight. When the visor is pushed back they do tend to through most of the weight to rear... I could tack on some additional weight (not much) to the front to help counter the effect.

  Close up of the bottom part of the helmet; this is where I am thinking about cutting into, so as to make a shoulder recess. Photo: 1

• The gloves aren't very good. The white cloth and blue inner glove are fine, but the woollen outside is difficult to manipulate and don the gloves. I think I'll need assistance to put the second glove on, and it was cutting off circulation to my fingers. I also suspect they might rip. I don't know why you didn't use the same material as the boots (which are great, BTW). I think that would have been a better choice (not being aware of whatever manufacturing difficulties you had). I'm going to modify the gloves and replace the woollen section with something similar to the grey nylon (retaining the blue inner glove).

  I do understand what you mean by the gloves being tight, we used size Large for the blue gloves. To better help pulling on the gloves grab from the end of the blue glove, so as to not put tension on the white and grey outer cover. As you know the initial production run can be vary hard to judge cost. As it is we will only be breaking even financially. To build custom gloves takes so much time and control in very tight places. To produce a stretch fit that forms and won't slip off the blue glove would raise the cost of the overall bid. The grey fabric (which was a hard find in itself) is not a stretch, and unfortunately can't be used. These were the closest that we could find and even still they needed to have the tips cut off, then Sivorn sew'ed the tips with black stretch thread through every loop to keep them from fraying.

• Being really pedantic, there should be a fourth hose from the OPS section of the PLSS, which feeds into a connector at the front. Yeah, yeah - I'm a rivet counter. Photos: 1 | 2

  We have only 4 hoses on our expensive rental suits. Remember Brand X has only 2 hoses on the cheap suits and 4-5 for his $10,000 marked suits.

• The hose connectors are really good but you might want to modify them, again for realism. If able, change the end of the hoses to have L fittings on them, coloured red and blue (to fit to the appropriate connector). That's how the oxygen/cooling water hoses connected onto the PGA of the A7L. 1

  Again no problem for the a next run, at this point there all finished and waiting final assembly. Those connectors may be better suited as castings since I tried like crazy to locate to no avail. Much time was spent in patterning, mold making, sourcing materials and any additional shops to do what we cannot (CNC).

• Lastly, I was wondering about the plastic ties in the end of the suit sleeves. I know this is a 'one size fits all' (and it does fit me!), so the sleeves are REALLY long, but can I remove the ties at the end? What are they meant to be for?

  The ties with "Tail" is for final fit when received by the final user in case there is some adjusting needed for fitting there hand through. Cut the "Tail" off when the size is good for you. The main purpose is to keep the "baggy pressure suit" look but not excess material at the end.

  If there is another run of these Suits, these items will be addressed; The "Jaw" on the helmet will be made from formed plate aluminum the provide more strength and weight to the front. The wrist cuffs and the glove gauntlet patterns will be reworked. The wrist cuff was made to be separable to relieve the weight resting on the glove and gauntlet and keep them from being pulled off. The next set of CNC cuffs will also undergo a weight-loss program with removed material and possibly the same for the chest fittings.

posted 08-25-2011 05:55 AM               

I've now put the suit on a mannequin. It looks okay, but the mannequin is quite slender to doesn't 'fill out' the suit much: