 The flamboyant aviator Wiley Post proved the first real pressure suit when he flew his plane the Winnie Mae on a series of high altitude flights in 1935. Years later, many suits for space evolved based on Post's design. There were even designs that never made it. This lunar model was developed at a time when it was uncertain whether the moon's surface could support a person's weight. Our first space suits were direct adaptations for Navy and Air Force high altitude pressure garments. John Glenn, America's first astronaut to orbit the Earth, wore one of these during the flight of Friendship 7 in 1962. Later astronaut Ed White made history as America's first space walker. For the first time, the suits had to withstand the open vacuum of space outside the capsule to protect the astronaut from extreme temperatures and micrometeorites. To land astronauts on the moon, a different set of functions was required. A full range of physical movement was necessary to carry out exploration of the moon's surface. These suits were custom made. Each seam was tailored by hand. Gloves were molded from the hands of the astronauts. The cooling was provided by this liquid cooled undergarment. The suit consisted of a pressure barrier and multiple layers of thermal, micrometeorite, and abrasion resistant material. The shuttle required yet another space suit concept. The modular design can be converted to fit any astronaut. Today there is much work underway at the Johnson Space Center testing a zero-pre-breathe suit, or ZPS, targeted for use on the space station. In the underwater test facility that simulates space conditions, astronaut Jerry Ross helps evaluate new suit components while practicing the assembly of space station structures. This prototype suit eliminates the extensive onboard preparation required before working in space with the current shuttle suit. Not only will this be more efficient, but the savings in time will allow astronauts to respond to emergencies immediately. There are trade-offs. The pressure in the ZPS suit is approximately twice that in the shuttle suit. Increased pressure is harder to design for, because the suit has to be sturdy. Joints need to be engineered so there is minimal resistance to movement. Joe Cosmo gives an example. If you look at your hand and see all the functions it can perform, to try to do that in a simple type of structure is almost next to impossible, but we're trying to achieve it. Across the country, another space suit designer at NASA's Ames Research Center in California is working on a suit that may someday see application on the space station. Vic Vickiokal has devoted a major part of his career to working on hard space suit technology. The suit can be added from the rear and is built entirely of aluminum, a good material for space. It shields well against radiation and will hold up to the daily rigors of the space station. We know enough about levels that we can use conventional aerospace fabrication techniques and reproduce the suit. If you build one, the tenth one will be the same. Through time, space suits have evolved from limited mobility systems to the present, where we are seeing more and more sophistication for use on the space station and beyond.