moon

This book is the story of the makers of the Apollo Program space suits, International Latex Corporation (ILC). The book is written from the perspective of a former employee, so presumably it's not entirely unbiased, but it's still an interesting read. At a time where more traditional aerospace companies were either focused on converting rubber pressure suits intended for high flying military aircraft, or things which resembled the love child of a space craft and a garbage can, ILC was actively working on what we now recognize as a space suit -- something protective and pressurized that still allowed as much joint mobility as possible. ILC had their stumbles, especially when forced to pair with more traditional aerospace companies who looked down on ILC's background as a garment manufacturer. However, it seems pretty clear in hindsight that they were by far the best prepared in terms of making something actually usable. Ultimately ILC also suffered pretty severely from reduced government funding as the US Federal Government reduced investment in the space program at the end of the Apollo era -- it turns out there aren't heaps of buyers for space suits. This book is both detailed but at the same…