Two well respected aerospace organizations had experience making high altitude pressure suits, but only a couple of engineers from a relatively unknown company known as ILC Dover had set their sights set on developing a true space suit with high mobility for the Apollo program.

In his book, Lunar Outfitters: Making the Apollo Space Suit, Ayrey tells the people story of ILC and documents the technical details of the various models of the Apollo suit, including pre-Apollo suits.

Bill retired in May 2019 from ILC Dover after 41 years of service. He was responsible for managing the test laboratories for the company where the space suits made for the Space Shuttle than the International Space Station were tested prior to delivery. He also represented the company as their historian.

Join cohosts Tom Hill and me, Eleanor O’Rangers, for part 2 of our interview with Bill Ayrey on the history of US spacesuits. In this episode, we’ll discuss how ILC tackled the development of the Apollo spacesuits with some particular emphasis on the special and indispensable role the seamstresses played in the creation of specialized equipment which never suffered a failure during the lunar program. Bill will also share some interesting anecdotes about the astronauts who visited ILC for suit fittings as well.