Buried under the U.D.C. flap on the right thigh of the A7L, there are three things of interest. On the flap itself there is a small pocket that held a radiation dosimeter. And on the thigh of the suit covered by the flap is a small medical injection port. And last but not least… U.D.V., or urine disposal valve. This diminutive blue valve was used to drain the small metal container that stored the liquid during E.V.A..
Why did I feel it was important to include this seldom seen detail? I guess just because it is there.
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The worst thing about putting on one of my suits is: by the time you get everything zipped, Velcroed and snapped. The helmet and gloves on, you are so hot the helmet steams up and the perspiration is pouring off of your forehead into your eyes. The padding and foam I use to create the pressurized look is so insulating you could die of heatstroke in the arctic.
My answer is the same one the guys at Hamilton-Standard came up with years ago. Cold water running through small tubes next to the skin.
I purchased some “net” fabric with holes just slightly smaller than the tubing I had. I the “threded” the tubing in and out of the shirt I had sewn. I divided the shirt into 4 “zones” . Each arm is one, and then the front and back. A small pump pushes ice water from a 1/2 liter bottel to a “header” that sends it to all 4 zones then back to another header and back to the bottel.
This should help me “keep my cool”. I’ll let you know the next time I put the suit on.
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The suit is nearing completion now, I assembled the whole thing in IV configuration and checked airflow to the helmet and the cooling shirt I made. Using a thermal underwear shirt and about 10 meters of 3/16 inch plastic tubing. And some very careful stitching. It looks like a plumbers nightmare, but it really helps. I have a small pump used to cool a computer from my Mac modding days, a 750ml water container filled with cold H20. The water is pumped around the torso and down each arm then back to the container in a closed loop.
The air flow is provided by a blower pushing through a can filter then into the suit. The duct runs down under the left arm then up the back to the neckring where it meets the headrest/air duct on the helmet. There is a secondary duct in the front of the neckring that leads down and out the blue gas connector on the right side.
The suit is so insulating, in the past every time I would put the helmet on it would quickly fogg up. The cooling has really helped.
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You will probably notice there are no progress pictures on todays post. Well, if you read yesterdays column you might guess that I had to got into work. You would be correct. Eight hours of driving a snow plow. Then I got stuck going up the hill in my driveway in my Jeep Grand Cherokee. Me, stuck in the Jeep… I didn’t think it could happen!
I spent most of today shoveling and clearing with my tractor, my 650 foot (198.12 meters) long driveway. The official snow total for my aera was 20 inches or 50.8 centimeters of wet packed snow.
Perhaps after a little rest and dinner I’ll work a little bit… If so I’ll post pictures of whatever I do.
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Here in Ohio we are in the beginnings of what promises to be the worst winter storm this year. So I am looking forward to having lots of time to work on the suit this weekend. Only one small problem could arise; I work for a small city near Columbus. And after 18 or so hours they run out of street department employees to drive the snow plows and start looking to other departments.
Now I am far enough up the food chain that this is not usually a problem. But if the need for snowplowing last for more than say 36 hours, I may have to go to work.
So today I have sewn the zipper flap to the suit and added the abrasion patch. And attached the velcro and snaps. I would hate to have to get out of one of these in a hurry. Two zippers, snaps and all that velcro… no wonder they wear diapers.
After the flap and patch, I moved on to the last part of the ITMG sleeve. The short tapered piece at the glove disconnects. This tapers from around 21 to 14 inches.
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I started work on the zipper cover and the abrasion patch. After I get the velcro and snaps on the suit I will sew everything together.
I also fired up my welder and made a lower PLSS bracket and attached it. Not as nice and clean as ILC’s version. But I not a pro welder.
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A couple of pictures of the major assyembly. The ITMG inplace over the inner suit. No hardware yet. And not finished. Just wanted to check the assyembly and location of the pockets etc.
Still need to finish the arms at the connector locations. And the back zipper/flap and abrasion patch.
Next some photos of the LEVA I am working with. Still looking for some options on the visors both clear and gold.
Things are comming together. I have applied some lessons learned from privious projects.
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I have heard it said that “God is in the details”, well I doubt if God cares about replica space suits. But I certainly do! So I have been working on the small details I wished I had added the last time around.
Its hard to know how much is enough,
If it where feasible, I’d have every stitch, snap and fitting in exactly the right place.
But this is after all, just a replica.
Here are the close-up pictures of the boots I mentioned last time, the seams are more visible here:
And I changed the shoulder area on the inner suit:
I think this will create a more realistic shape after the ITMG is attached.
With luck it will give that distinct A7L look I strive for.
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I received the white boots I ordered, with the gum colored sole. I have been unable to locate anything with the exact sole the original had.
A small milestone, I made a decision on which suit I am going to do. I like to pick a certain crew-member and try to replicate (as close as I can) their suit. This time its going to be…Ed Mitchell’s Apollo 14 Suit.
Why? you may ask, well several reasons. Not the least of which is Ulli’s wonderful photo album over at the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal
This week I pinned the ITMG major parts together and test the fit on the inner suit.. That is when I realized I needed to move the UDC cover. I also was not happy with the shoulder area. I am working on a solution for that. I’ll post some photos when I get it fixed.
Oh, one last thing, I received the 36 inch white #10 zipper I ordered for the ITMG. Its the longest I could get in a number 10. It should be fine, the last suit had a 32 inch and it was ok.
Thats going to do it for today, I’ll post some pictures tonight.
Remember, if all else fails…try SCE to AUX
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Its been a few days since I last updated. So I have a lot of ground to cover this time.
The above photos detail the sequence for assembling the “flexible pleats” on the elbow of the ITMG. I doubt that ILC did it this way, but it looks pretty close.
Photo 1 shows the finished arm.
In photo 2 you see the fabric pined for the first seam. I measured the circumference of the arm, which in this case is 22 inches. Then I measured the length and added 2 inches to allow for a hem on the bottom and some fabric to reach passed the band on the lower shoulder assembly.
I divided the circumference in half to get the finished measurement for the back half of the arm/elbow, which is 11 inches. After some trial and error, I found that 2 3/4 inch pleats look about right. So I cut the fabric at 24 inches by 12 inches and marked 2 and 3/4 inches until I ran out of cloth to mark.
Photo 3 shows the first seam being sewn. Be sure to stitch toward the short side, in other words, keep the finish side up when folding. Seam every third mark.
The next photo shows the pleats folded and pined for the seam that goes on each side and holds the pleats in place. I folded the seam past the first 2 3/4 inch mark tho the second one making a 2 3/4 inch pocket or pleat. Then fold over the edge and seam it to hold everything in place.
Photo 6 is another view of the finished arm. Photo seven shows the solid front half ready to be joined to the back half.
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