Pressure Suit, EX-1-A, Constant Volume, AirResearch

This suit is a Single-Wall Laminate (SWL) "hybrid" suit, and the only one of this kind made. It was constructed of two layers of fabric bonded together with a layer of Neoprene between, to create this single, laminated material. It uses "toroidal" joints throughout which provides the wearer with an almost complete range of motion without the fatigue present with other systems. The suit was "soft" while unpressurized and would have been stowable in the Apollo spacecraft. When the suit was pressurized, it became "hard" and maintained a constant volume, which was a distinct advantage as stowage space inside the spacecraft was at a minimum, and the other constant volume suits in the program could not fit.The suit used Gemini gloves and boots, and had a hemispherical, polycarbonate helmet. It was transferred to the National Air and Space Museum in February, 1977, from NASA - Johnson Space Center.