Space Suit Evolution From Custom Tailored to Off-The-Rack

The Apollo space suit was basically a one-piece suit. Each suit was made to fit (custom tailored) each astronaut. Each Apollo mission required fifteen (15) suits to support the mission. The main, or prime, three-man crew each had three suits: I for flight; 1 for training; and 1 as a flight back-up in case something happened to their flight suit, thus a total of 9 suits for the prime crew. The back-up three-man crew each had two suits: I for flight and I for training. The astronaut corps at that time included between 25 and 27 astronauts. The Shuttle astronaut corps includes about 120 men and women. The Shuttle space suit, to accommodate the large number of astronauts with widely varying body sizes, was designed to be made up of many interchangeable parts. These parts (upper and lower torso's, arms, etc.) are fabricated at ILC in different sizes, inspected/tested, then shipped to Johnson Space Center (JSC) where they are inventoried for the astronaut corps. ILC Dover has a staff of about 15 people who work on-site at JSC. This staff is primarily responsible for the control, use, and maintenance of the suit components produced in Frederica after they arrive at JSC. The staff also develops and executes the crew training schedules. This involves everything from taking measurements and conducting fit checks to destow and post-flight inspection/test of the space suit.