Vintage NASA Spacesuit Design

This specially designed, 1970s NASA space suit built for the Apollo space program was so incredible it needed all four 8s to truly capture all of its technical detail. The only patent in The Engineer's deck to hold that honor, and rightfully so. Each 8 showcases a different aspect of the suit - from the helmet, to its heating elements, pressurization system, material layering, and gloves/boots.

This patent - US3751727 - is one of many variants that NASA developed from the late 1950s to early 2000s. The space suit depicted is designed to be utilized both inside and outside the space craft, as stated in the documentation "The suit is designed to provide life support not only within a space vehicle, but also during extravehicular activities including exploration of the lunar surface" (US3751727).

To make this possible, the space suit boasts multiple critical life-support systems. All combined into a three-garment assembly, a controlled and breathable atmosphere is produced for the astronaut to explore the unknown horizons of space. This requires having systems in place to maintain pressure, temperature, oxygen, and maneuverability.

The outer cover is a layer of Teflon Beta cloth and added layers of Aluminized Kapton with nylon spacers (Nasa.gov). You can see this detail clearly on the 8 of Clubs (Fig 17C, The Engineer's Deck).

The Teflon Beta Cloth is a woven fiberglass coated in Teflon (the nonstick cookware). It is extremely temperature and abrasion resistant - making an excellent outer shell for astronauts.

The Aluminized Kapton layer underneath is just as valuable. It effectively reflects radiant heat and solar radiation, while insulating the spacesuit within. The nylon spacers were used to separate Kapton layers to reduce thermal conduction.