a_v_c_o_AKP (S-65-37600)
“APOLLO SPACE SUIT – Test subject wears the A-1C-1, Apollo Block 1, prototype space suit under development at MSC for the Apollo space program.”
Per the Astronautix website:
“American space suit, tested 1965. For the initial Block I Apollo missions a modification of the Gemini G4C suit was to have been flown. After the death of the Apollo 1 crew on the pad, Block I missions were cancelled and the suit never flew.
Status: tested 1965.
The A1C was a full pressure suit featuring a closed loop system and custom sizing.”
At:
www.astronautix.com/a/a1c.html
Credit: Astronautix website
And, per Wikipedia:
The Gemini space suit was chosen by NASA for the initial Apollo Block I Earth orbital concept demonstrator phase of Apollo. Since EVA was impractical due to the hatch design of the Block I spacecraft, and with a design competition underway between ILC Dover, Hamilton Standard (later Hamilton Sunstrand), and David Clark for a new Block II lunar EVA suit, NASA decided to use the G3C as the base for the Apollo Block I suit, designated A1C. This version added new electrical and environmental disconnects, and a protective shell over the helmet visor, which reverted to the more economical Plexiglas. Since Apollo would use a launch escape system in place of Gemini's ejection seats, a yellow-colored U-shaped inflatable "Mae West" personal flotation device replaced the pilot parachute and its harness. Only two Block I flights were initially planned until December 1966, when the second one, to be flown by Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham, was canceled as unnecessary duplication.
Astronauts Grissom, White, and Roger B. Chaffee were wearing A1C suits on January 27, 1967 in a preliminary countdown demonstration test for the planned February 21 Apollo 1 launch, when they were killed in a cabin fire, leading to NASA cancelling manned Block I flights and use of the A1C suit. Since the fire had burned through the suits, NASA added a fireproofing requirement to the new suit, which replaced the outer layer with beta cloth. The Block II suit was designated A7L and manufactured by ILC Dover. The new suit was first used on Apollo 1's replacement flight, Apollo 7 flown by Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham in October 1968.”
Above, with photographs, at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_space_suit
Superlative pertinent documentation, again with illustrative photos, charts & diagrams. The same young man, wearing Collins' suit, likely during the same photographic documentation session, can be seen on page 22:
historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/s...
a_v_c_o_AKP (S-65-37600)
“APOLLO SPACE SUIT – Test subject wears the A-1C-1, Apollo Block 1, prototype space suit under development at MSC for the Apollo space program.”
Per the Astronautix website:
“American space suit, tested 1965. For the initial Block I Apollo missions a modification of the Gemini G4C suit was to have been flown. After the death of the Apollo 1 crew on the pad, Block I missions were cancelled and the suit never flew.
Status: tested 1965.
The A1C was a full pressure suit featuring a closed loop system and custom sizing.”
At:
www.astronautix.com/a/a1c.html
Credit: Astronautix website
And, per Wikipedia:
The Gemini space suit was chosen by NASA for the initial Apollo Block I Earth orbital concept demonstrator phase of Apollo. Since EVA was impractical due to the hatch design of the Block I spacecraft, and with a design competition underway between ILC Dover, Hamilton Standard (later Hamilton Sunstrand), and David Clark for a new Block II lunar EVA suit, NASA decided to use the G3C as the base for the Apollo Block I suit, designated A1C. This version added new electrical and environmental disconnects, and a protective shell over the helmet visor, which reverted to the more economical Plexiglas. Since Apollo would use a launch escape system in place of Gemini's ejection seats, a yellow-colored U-shaped inflatable "Mae West" personal flotation device replaced the pilot parachute and its harness. Only two Block I flights were initially planned until December 1966, when the second one, to be flown by Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham, was canceled as unnecessary duplication.
Astronauts Grissom, White, and Roger B. Chaffee were wearing A1C suits on January 27, 1967 in a preliminary countdown demonstration test for the planned February 21 Apollo 1 launch, when they were killed in a cabin fire, leading to NASA cancelling manned Block I flights and use of the A1C suit. Since the fire had burned through the suits, NASA added a fireproofing requirement to the new suit, which replaced the outer layer with beta cloth. The Block II suit was designated A7L and manufactured by ILC Dover. The new suit was first used on Apollo 1's replacement flight, Apollo 7 flown by Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham in October 1968.”
Above, with photographs, at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_space_suit
Superlative pertinent documentation, again with illustrative photos, charts & diagrams. The same young man, wearing Collins' suit, likely during the same photographic documentation session, can be seen on page 22:
historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/s...