ILC Dover (formerly
ILC Industries, also known as simply
ILC) is a
Dover, DelawareThe city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...
-based corporation located in nearby
Frederica, DelawareFrederica is a town in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 648 at the 2000 census...
. Approximately ten percent of the workforce is stationed at the
Lyndon B. Johnson Space CenterThe Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight activities. The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on located in the Bay Area of southeast Houston, Texas...
. Most of the company's work is done under contract to
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
and the
United States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military...
.
The company is famous for making the
spacesuitsA space suit is a complex system of garments, equipment and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space...
for
Project ApolloNASA's Apollo Program landed the first humans on Earth's moon. US President John F. Kennedy announced his support for a manned moon landing on May 25, 1961, as part of a special address to a joint session of Congress:...
in the 1960s and 1970s, in which 45 astronauts wore its so-called "A7L" and "A7L-B" model suits without experiencing any significant failure.
ILC Dover (formerly
ILC Industries, also known as simply
ILC) is a
Dover, DelawareThe city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...
-based corporation located in nearby
Frederica, DelawareFrederica is a town in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 648 at the 2000 census...
. Approximately ten percent of the workforce is stationed at the
Lyndon B. Johnson Space CenterThe Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight activities. The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on located in the Bay Area of southeast Houston, Texas...
. Most of the company's work is done under contract to
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
and the
United States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military...
.
The company is famous for making the
spacesuitsA space suit is a complex system of garments, equipment and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space...
for
Project ApolloNASA's Apollo Program landed the first humans on Earth's moon. US President John F. Kennedy announced his support for a manned moon landing on May 25, 1961, as part of a special address to a joint session of Congress:...
in the 1960s and 1970s, in which 45 astronauts wore its so-called "A7L" and "A7L-B" model suits without experiencing any significant failure. After the
Apollo-Soyuz Test ProjectThe Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the last mission in the Apollo program and was the first joint flight of the U.S. and Soviet space programs. The mission took place in July 1975...
in 1975, ILC Dover teamed up with the
Hamilton Sundstrand CorporationHamilton Sundstrand, is a global corporation that manufactures and supports aerospace and industrial products for worldwide markets. It was formed from the merger of Hamilton Standard and Sundstrand Corporation in 1999...
to produce the
Space ShuttleThe Space Shuttle, part of the Space Transportation System , is a spacecraft operated by NASA for orbital human spaceflight missions. It began operations in the 1980s and is scheduled to be retired from service in 2010 after 134 launches...
two-piece, self-contained
Extravehicular Mobility UnitThe Space Shuttle/International Space Station Extravehicular Mobility Unit is an independent anthropomorphic system that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for a Shuttle or ISS crew member to perform extra-vehicular activity in earth orbit...
(EMU), in which a derivative of the unit is still being used by astronauts onboard the
International Space StationThe International Space Station is an internationally developed research facility currently being assembled in Low Earth Orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled to be completed by 2011, with operations continuing until at least 2015...
.
History
At its inception in 1947, ILC Dover manufactured
brasA brassiere is an article of clothing that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. Since the early 19th century, it has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting a woman's breasts.Women wear bras for a variety of purposes, for support, to improve the shape of the...
and
girdleThe word girdle originally meant a belt. In modern English the term "girdle" is most commonly used for a form of women's foundation wear that replaced the corset in popularity.-History:...
s while it was a division of
PlaytexPlaytex is a brand of women's products with the slogan Making Your Life Better Everyday. Playtex manufactures baby items, feminine hygiene, and lingerie. The name comes from "perforated latex" which sandwiched between cloth gave the underwear its elastic and body shaping character.The brand...
, at that time known as "International Latex". After its sale by Playtex in the 1950s, ILC Dover moved to the manufacture of
pressurized suitA pressure suit is a protective suit worn by high-altitude pilots who may fly at altitudes where the air pressure is too low for an unprotected person to survive, even breathing pure oxygen at positive pressure. Such suits may be either full-pressure or partial-pressure...
s for aircraft
test pilotA test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated.Test pilots may work for military organizations or private, companies...
s.
As early as 1955, the company began designing spacesuits. In the early 1960s, when
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
announced it was looking for a "Block II" Apollo spacesuit to be worn for launch, landing, and
extra-vehicular activityExtra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
(EVA), Hamilton Sundstrand (then Hamilton Standard), contracted ILC to fabricate the joints for the new suit. Because of problems experienced by ILC employees with the fabrication of the joints, Hamilton United dropped ILC, but NASA, facing lawsuits from ILC for
breach of contractBreach of contract is a legal concept in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance.- Minor breaches :...
, allowed the company to enter their version of the Apollo spacesuit into the competition. After a one week test trial, in which spacesuit from Hamilton United, ILC, and the
David Clark CompanyDavid Clark Company, Inc. is an American manufacturer, best known for noise attenuating headsets with boom microphones for use in military aviation, commercial aviation, and professional communication in high-noise environments...
were compared, NASA chose the ILC suit and gave the company the prime contract to produce over 30 suits for the upcoming Apollo missions. The first manned flight,
Apollo 7Apollo 7 was the first manned mission in the Apollo program to be launched. It was an eleven-day Earth-orbital mission, the first manned launch of the Saturn IB launch vehicle, and the first three-person American space mission. The crew consisted of Mission Commander Walter M. Schirra, Command...
in 1968, was also the first flight of the company's "A7L" spacesuit.
When NASA shut down the space program in the 1970s, ILC Dover almost went out of business, dropping from a staff of 1000 to 25, before entering the field of unmanned
airshipAn airship or dirigible is a lighter-than-air aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust...
manufacture. Since their entry into this market, the company has manufactured most of the large (>50,000 cubic feet) airship envelopes for vehicles such as
blimpA blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag maintain its...
s presently in use in the United States. In the 1980s, ILC Dover returned to the manufacture of spacesuits, this time for the
Space Shuttle programNASA's Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System , is the United States government's current manned launch vehicle. The winged Space Shuttle orbiter is launched vertically, usually carrying five to seven astronauts and up to 50,000 lb of payload into low earth orbit...
. In 1979, the company introduced the Chemturion encapsulating hazardous materials suit and in the 1980s, the company expanded their product line to include
gas maskA gas mask is a mask worn over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling "airborne pollutants" and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Some gas masks are also respirators, though the word...
s. Presently, ILC Dover is the largest supplier of gas masks to the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
. Later, the company began manufacture of isolation bags for hazardous pharmaceutical compounds which would otherwise require workers to wear protective suits and masks to handle and transport. As of 2008, space suit manufacture accounts for ~20% of ILC's revenue, though is the activity for which they are best known.
ILC entered competition for future manufacture of space suits for
renewed American manned exploration of the moonConstellation is a human spaceflight program within NASA, the space agency of the United States. The stated goals of the program are gaining significant experience in operating away from Earth's environment, developing technologies needed for opening the space frontier and conducting fundamental...
as a joint venture with
Hamilton SundstrandHamilton Sundstrand, is a global corporation that manufactures and supports aerospace and industrial products for worldwide markets. It was formed from the merger of Hamilton Standard and Sundstrand Corporation in 1999...
called
Exploration Systems and Technology. The winner of this competition, which involved a three-quarter billion dollar government contract for suit design and manufacture, was
Oceaneering InternationalOceaneering International Inc. is an applied technology company based in Houston, Texas, U.S.A. that provides engineered services and hardware to customers who operate in marine, space, and other environments. It was founded in 1964....
. ILC's current contract to manufacture space suits runs through 2018 and the company is seeking to partner with Oceaneering in some fashion after expiry of the present contract.
Apollo spacesuits
The suits worn by the astronauts on the 11 manned Apollo flights, the three manned
SkylabSkylab was the United States' first space station, and the second space station visited by a human crew. It was also the only space station NASA launched alone...
flights, and Apollo-Soyuz, were identical in fabrication. Each suit, called a "pressure garment assembly", was a five-layer suit made from rubber-coated
nylonNylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides and first produced on February 28, 1935 by Wallace Carothers at DuPont...
, and alternating layers of nylon and
nomexNomex is a registered trademark for flame resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967.- Properties:...
, a fire-resistant fabric. Depending upon the individual mission, and each crew member's job, the suits were different from basic appearance, and function. From Apollo 7 to Apollo 14, the command module pilot's suit had a three-layer fireproof "cover layer" consisting of spuned teflon-coated fiberglass, called "
beta clothBeta cloth is a type of fireproof silica fiber cloth used in the manufacture of space suit, Thermal Micrometeoroid Garments and in other specialized applications....
", over layers of
PET filmBiaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate polyester film is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aroma barrier properties and electrical insulation....
and nomex. His suit had three connectors, two for environmental and life support, and one for communications. This was the same suit worn on Apollo-Soyuz, but by all three astronauts, as they did not conduct any EVAs during the flight.
The commander and lunar module pilot had a cover layer made up of 12 additional layers, alternating of both mylar and kaptan fabric, with a beta cloth outer layer for fire protection, and an inner layer of nylon for abrasion protection. These astronauts also had boots made of a silicone rubber compound with uppers made of "Chromel-R", a woven steel that provided abrasion protection while on the moon's surface. The EVA gloves were also made of the same material. The suit, in addition to the three main connectors, also had three addition connectors, six altogether, that allowed the hookup of the EVA backpack (built by Hamilton Standard), providing emergency oxygen and liquid water cooling, by means of a
Liquid Cooling GarmentA Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment, or LCVG, is a form-fitting garment worn by astronauts in order to maintain a comfortable core body temperature during extra-vehicular activity. The LCVG accomplishes this task by circulating cool water through a network of flexible tubes in direct contact...
.
For Apollos 15 through 17, the commander and LM pilot wore a modified "A7L-B" suit, which had improved waist joints, and better abrasion protection (as the crew performed three EVAs during each mission), while the CM pilot wore a five-connector version of the "A7L" suit--the liquid water cooling connector being omitted, as the CM pilot, during the trip back to Earth, wore a life-support umbilical, providing both oxygen for breathing and air conditioning. The "A7L-B" suit was also worn by all three Skylab crews, but with an umbilical assembly similar to that worn on the
GeminiProject Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini operated between Projects Mercury and Apollo, with 10 manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966...
flights.
Other spaceflight-related products
- ILC manufactured the air bags which were deployed for final braking by the Mars landers Spirit
Spirit, mission designation MER-A , is the first of the two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars on 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin Opportunity landed on the other side of the planet...
and OpportunityOpportunity, mission designation MER-B , is the second of the two rovers of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully at Meridiani Planum on Mars on January 25, 2004 05:05 Ground UTC , three weeks after its twin Spirit had landed on the other side of the planet...
- ILC built the Mark III
The Mark III or MK III is a NASA space suit technology demonstrator built by ILC Dover. While heavier than other suits , the Mark III is more mobile, and is designed for a relatively high operating pressure.The Mark III is a rear-entry suit, unlike the EMU currently in use, which is a waist-entry...
suit and I-SuitThe I-Suit is a spacesuit model constructed by ILC Dover. The suit began as an EVA mobility demonstrator, developed to meet a contract awarded by NASA to ILC in 1997 for an all-soft suit....
technology demonstrator