The Apollo A7L was the layered pressure suit worn by NASA astronauts, including the Moon walkers.
nasa-apollo-a7l-spacesuit The A7L was the pressure suit worn by Apollo astronauts, including the Moon walkers. ILC (International Latex) made it for NASA, with Hamilton Standard as contractor. The suit kept its wearer alive in vacuum and in a cabin of pure oxygen. It was also the cabin suit on Apollo command module flights, and later on Skylab.
The suit is a stack of layers, and each one has a job. The outside is Beta cloth, a silica fibre coated with Teflon, which resists fire. Aluminised films reflect heat, and spacers keep them apart. A neoprene-coated nylon bladder holds the oxygen pressure, and a cotton undergarment adds comfort.
A pressure suit worn by Apollo astronauts, including the Moon walkers, and the fire-resistant, multi-layer garment kept them alive in vacuum and a 100 percent oxygen cabin. It also served as the cabin suit for Apollo command module flights and later Skylab.
The outer cover protects against fire and wear. Beta cloth gives fire protection and does not burn in an oxygen atmosphere, and a Teflon cloth layer resists abrasion and flame. Abrasion patches, gloves and boots use Chromel R, a metallic fibre.
Films of aluminised gridded Kapton and aluminised Mylar reflect heat. Between them sit spacers that keep the reflective surfaces from touching: nonwoven Dacron, and Beta marquisette, a Teflon-coated silica fibre fabric laminated to Kapton.
Oxygen pressure is held by a bladder of neoprene-coated nylon, an impermeable layer, together with a nylon restraint layer. Neoprene convolutes, which are flexible joints, retain the pressure.
The Constant Wear Garment is a cotton undergarment, there for comfort. Two more layers deal with abrasion and comfort: a knit jersey laminate and a lightweight Nomex cloth.
The outer layer for fire protection. It is a silica fibre coated with Teflon.
A metallic fibre used for the abrasion patches, gloves and boots.
One of the two reflective films in the thermal insulation.
A spacer that keeps the reflective films from touching.
The pressure bladder, which is the impermeable layer, and the inner liner.
The Constant Wear Garment, the undergarment, for comfort.
The A7L first flew with a crew on Apollo 7 in October 1968. It was worn for the Moon landing on Apollo 11, on 20 July 1969.
NASA
Neoprene-coated nylon. Here: Inner liner; Bladder. There: TMG liner.
Aluminized Mylar. Here: Reflective insulation (Mylar). There: Insulation (MLI); Glove finger TMG insulation.
Teflon cloth. Here: Teflon cloth layer. There: Glove bladder abrasion liner; Glove finger TMG outer layer.
North American Aviation
Aluminium. Here: Connectors, neck ring and wrist locking rings. There: Radial beams; Crushable ribs (x4) and more.
Nylon. Here: Restraint layer. There: Main parachutes (x3).
NPP Zvezda / Roscosmos
Aluminium. Here: Connectors, neck ring and wrist locking rings. There: Hard upper torso (cuirass); Rigid backpack (satchel) shell.
Cotton. Here: Constant Wear Garment (undergarment). There: Cotton underwear-coveralls and absorbent shorts (Orlan-M design).
The full order of the layers and their thicknesses are not published, and published layer counts differ. The weave of the Beta cloth and the grades of nylon and neoprene are not given. Materials for the helmet, visor, boots and life-support backpack are not known, and the gloves only partly.
What is written above is built from these numbers and quotes. Each row links to the page it was taken from. Get all of it as JSON, or ask our MCP server.
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Maker | ILC Industries Inc. (NASM catalogue); contractor Hamilton Standard |
| Suit mass (Apollo 13 Swigert suit) | about 58 lb |
| Complete Apollo 14 EVA assembly mass on Earth | about 82 kg (180 lb), with life support and other components |
| Layer count (Apollo 8 era suit record) | approximately 26 layers of materials (Lovell suit record) |
| Size (Apollo 14 suit on display) | 167.64 x 81.3 x 27.9 cm |
| First crewed flight (A7L) | Apollo 7, October 1968 |
| Moon landing use | Apollo 11, 20 July 1969 |
Each material named in the sources: where it is used here, which other products use it, and its key numbers when its material page exists.
Used in 2 partsAbrasion patches · Gloves and boots (Chromel R applications)
Used in 2 partsInner liner · Bladder
Used in 1 partConnectors, neck ring and wrist locking rings
Used in 1 partReflective insulation (gridded Kapton)
Used in 1 partReflective insulation (Mylar)
Used in 1 partBeta cloth layer
Used in 1 partSpacer between reflective surfaces
Used in 1 partZipper
Used in 1 partConstant Wear Garment (undergarment)
Used in 1 partAbrasion protection layer
Used in 1 partComfort layer
Used in 1 partFlexible joints (convolutes)
Used in 1 partSpacer layer
Used in 1 partRestraint layer
Used in 1 partTeflon cloth layer
NASA historical softgoods records name every material by function for the Apollo EV suit, but give no order, thickness or mass per layer, and the helmet, gloves beyond Chromel R and the backpack are not covered.
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teflon cloth layer“Teflon Cloth: Abrasion/flame resistance” | Teflon clothteflon-fabric | — | — |
| Beta cloth layer“Beta cloth (Teflon-coated silica fiber): Fire protection” | Beta cloth (Teflon-coated silica fiber)beta-cloth | — | — |
| Abrasion patches“Apollo space suit abrasion patch” | Chromel R (high-performance metallic fiber)chromel-r | — | — |
| Gloves and boots (Chromel R applications)“Apollo space suit gloves and boots” | Chromel R (high-performance metallic fiber)chromel-r | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reflective insulation (gridded Kapton)“Aluminized gridded Kapton: Reflective insulation” | Aluminized gridded Kaptonaluminized-kapton-gridded | — | — |
| Spacer between reflective surfaces“Beta marquisette (Teflon-coated silica fiber, laminated to Kapton): Spacer between reflective surfaces” | Beta marquisette laminated to Kaptonbeta-marquisette-kapton-laminate | — | — |
| Reflective insulation (Mylar)“Aluminized Mylar: Reflective insulation” | Aluminized Mylaraluminized-mylar | — | — |
| Spacer layer“Nonwoven Dacron: Spacer” | Nonwoven Dacronnonwoven-dacron | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inner liner“Neoprene-coated nylon: Inner liner” | Neoprene-coated nylonneoprene-coated-nylon | — | — |
| Restraint layer“Nylon: Restraint layer for pressurized bladder” | Nylonnylon | — | — |
| Bladder“Neoprene-coated nylon: Bladder material serving as an impermeable layer” | Neoprene-coated nylonneoprene-coated-nylon | — | — |
| Flexible joints (convolutes)“Neoprene convolute: Pressure-retaining flexible joints” | Neopreneneoprene | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abrasion protection layer“Knit jersey laminate: Abrasion protection” | Knit jersey laminateknit-jersey-laminate | — | — |
| Comfort layer“Lightweight Nomex cloth: Comfort” | Lightweight Nomex clothnomex | — | — |
| Constant Wear Garment (undergarment)“Cotton: Comfort” | Cottoncotton | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connectors, neck ring and wrist locking rings“aluminum” | Aluminium (alloy not stated)aluminium | — | NASM A19730040000 |
| Zipper“Zipper: Brass, neoprene” | Brass, neoprenebrass-and-neoprene-zipper | — | NASM A19730040000 |
Layer order, thickness, and helmet/PLSS materials not sourced.
CubeSats in a P-POD dispenser Maker credit: ILC Industries (International Latex Corporation) for NASA; contractor Hamilton Standard. Collected from public pages and documents, checked 4 Nov 2026.
