More information

• Object number

  2019-10

• Location

  Rocket Tower Level 2

• Curator's comments

  • The suit design includes an airlock in the chest. This would have allowed the wearer to put objects (e.g. Moon rock samples) through the outer door, and then retrieve them through the inner door once the outer door had been resealed. In order to do so, the wearer needed to retract their arms from their sleeves, allowing them to work inside the suit in the bulbous chest area.

• Has this object been into space?

  No

• Material

  Metal
  Rubber
  Leather
  Cotton
  Fibreglass
  Lamé
  Wool
  Nylon
  Copper
  Tufnol
  Bakelite
  Perspex

• Materials & techniques note

  The helmet is made from fibreglass, with a vacuum-plated aluminium finish. The neck-ring is also fibreglass, whilst Perspex is used within the visor.
  The suit is multi-layered, with a cotton twill outer layer. Ross and Smith's designs called for a shiny silver surface layer on top of this, which we chose to paint. Had they built the suit in the 1940s, materials like Mylar would have become available eventually.
  Internal latex rubber, nylon and cotton layers are used in this suit - and a similar multi-layered design is detailed in Ross and Smith's plans.
  'Lift the dot' studs are used for attaching the Lamé cape.
  The boots use leather, copper and fibreglass, and are based on diving suit technology from the 1940s.
  The backpack utilises Tufnol sheet material, aluminium, rubber and Bakelite.

• Object Production Date

  2019

• Object Production Organisation

  Ancient Wisdom
  National Space Centre

• Object Production Place

  United Kingdom
  Suffolk

• Associated Organisation

  British Interplanetary Society

• Associated Person

  Harry Ross
  Ralph Smith