Fresh from the Anodizing shop.
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The real Thing
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Repro3
Repro2
Repro1
The actual item at Garber
The Real thing 1
The real Thing
Tamarra has been busy cooking up some pressure suit boots. These are the best I have ever seen. I have included some photos from the Garber facility of actual A7L pressure suit boots. You can see the stitching and shape is perfect. When these are attached to my replica soles its going to be awesome. Popularity: unranked [?]
The Smiling crew of Apollo 12
40 years ago this week, Apollo 12 started with a bang. Two bangs really. On November 14, 1969 at 11:22 am EST Apollo 12 launched in a thunder storm. Not thought to be an issue, what with the all Navy crew aboard. The mighty Apollo-Saturn V AS-507 thundered into the clouds in a down-pouring rain.
Seconds into the flight, not one, but two bolts of lightning took advantage of the exhaust trail leading to the ground and passed through the ascending rocket. The primitive solid-state electronics in the Command service module did not respond well to 50,000+ volts. (although they survived better than modern electronics would.) Immediately every caution and warning light in the CM lit up, with buzzers and horns. The crew was at a loss as to what had went wrong.
At Mission control in Houston, Tx., telemetry had dropped out and controllers were looking at gibberish on their screens. All was confusion.
Finally, after what seemed hours, a controller called the flight director and asked if they could have the crew try switching SCE to auxiliary. The cap-com called up “Try SCE to AUX.”
“FCE to AUX? I don’t know what that is…” Pete replied.  ” No, SCE, S as in SAM,” said the Cap-Com.
From the far right seat in the CSM Alan Bean said ” I know what that is!”, and reaching behind himself, flipped the switch marked SCE to the auxiliary position. SCE (Signal Conditioner Equipment) switch returned Telemetry signals back to the flight controllers. ” I think we need some more all-weather testing!”, Pete said. Â Alan Bean had certainly helped to save the mission, and save the day.
During all the commotion, Pete Conrad had his gloved hand on the abort handle. He had the guts, and fortitude to not pull it until he knew what was going on. That, my friends, is why these guys were, and are, my heroes.
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Have a sudden desire to stand in an oven at 500 degrees C? Well soon you will be able to. That’s right, your seeing real Beta-CLoth, the kind that went to the moon.
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Here are some pictures of the latest version of the IV gloves. Tamarra (my seamstress/co-spacesuit nut) has really done a great job. I think they are “spot on”
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Prototype for A7L reproduction helmet
In the last few months I have had a number of requests for bubble helmets. I should have the first two production bubbles from the plastics forming company sometime in November.
The first two are already assigned to a project.
I will be offering a few for sale after my current projects are complete. If you are seriously interested in buying one, please register on this website so I can contact you. Or you can comment on this post with your information.
Although I do not currently have a firm price, I will say that given the tooling cost, materials, machine shop labor, anodizing, seamstress labor and minimum compensation for my vacuum forming and assembly etc. the cost will be in the $3000 range.
If you read this blog you know of my attention to detail. Making these the most exact replicas possible is a time consuming and expensive task.
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Here are some photos of my new glove bladders. These where purchased after someone sent me a link.(thanks Alison)
They are quite nice and will save me lots of headaches.
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Here are some pictures of what I hope is the final prototype of the ITMG. Next we start sewing the new material.
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Here are a couple of pictures of Ares I X in the V.A.B. If we return to the moon in the next couple of decades, this may be how we will get there.
Now in my opinion, its too pricey, too heavy and relies too much on an SRB derived from the shuttle. I have trouble with a rocket motor that once lit, cant be shut off, or throttled back. Frankly, this thing scares me. But here it is none the less.
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I was looking for a photo of a pressure relief valve, and came across these photos of my last suit. This one went to a museum in Germany. I think we have made some real progress since this one. Although looking back, this still looks pretty good I think. (Or maybe its just the handsome devil inside it)
This suit was sewn form cordura nylon and had cast plastic hardware that was hand detailed.
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