How do you put on an Apollo spacesuit?

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First, let’s talk about terminology. When we talk about putting on or taking off a spacesuit, we frequently use the terms “donning and doffing.” These are technical terms that are used to refer to the practice of putting on (donning) and taking off (doffing) protective gear, clothing, and uniforms. The normal use of these terms has historically been for legal purposes in the labor relations field, but in the last 50 years, they have fallen into use in the space community. The terms are jargon, and I try not to use them, but all should be aware that they are out there and exist. There are, however, technical terms that I do use. These terms define the components of a spacesuit and often refer to specialized and necessary concepts. So how do you put on a spacesuit? Very carefully! Even in the case of custom-made suits from the Apollo era, astronauts had to practice putting on and removing spacesuits repeatedly to make it a smooth, effortless, and unsurprising enterprise. In the case of an emergency, Apollo astronauts would have only five minutes to get their suits on. That would require them to omit all the testing procedures that are part of the formal dressing. In preparing for flight, astronauts would go through the formal dressing process which would take much longer as each section is checked and rechecked to make certain that it functions as designed.

Step One: Where We All Start Apollo astronauts first started by putting on highly absorbent underwear. They wore these under their suits in case there was an unanticipated bathroom accident. These heavy-duty, space boxer briefs would fill in for an emergency. In addition, they had a urine collection device. This was essentially a heavy, rubber condom attached to a long tube that emptied into a rubberized reservoir. Remember, that all astronauts at the time were men—they adopted technology that long-duration pilots had been using for years. Step Two: Keeping Cool The next layer was a liquid cooling garment (LCG). This is a water-cooled nylon undergarment that looked like long underwear with clear plastic tubes running through it. Attached to the LCG was a biobelt.  Biobelts were constructed of a cotton duck base, a fabric similar to an artist’s canvas, with Teflon-coated, Beta-cloth pockets. Fitted into the pockets were tools that helped monitor the physiological functions of the astronaut including an electrocardiograph signal conditioner, an impedance pneumograph signal conditioner, and a current converter. All the electronic life support signals went through the biobelt. Each sensor had to be threaded through the pouches in the belt and then attached with snap fasteners to the liquid cooling garment.

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