The company behind Playtex bras also made the suits that let astronauts walk on the Moon. International Latex Corporation (ILC) sold bras and girdles through its Playtex consumer division, while another part of the company developed Apollo spacesuits. The connection sounds improbable until you consider what both kinds of work required: shaping flexible materials around a moving human body.
In September 1965, NASA awarded ILC the contract to design, manufacture, and test the Apollo spacesuit. This was no ordinary garment. It had to maintain pressure in a vacuum, protect its wearer from harsh conditions, and still allow enough movement to work on the lunar surface. A separate company, Hamilton Standard, developed the life-support backpack that supplied oxygen during moonwalks.
The finished suit brought together engineering and painstaking textile work. Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 suit contained as many as 21 layers, made from a combination of 12 synthetic materials. Each layer had a job; together, they formed a wearable barrier between an astronaut and the Moon’s hostile environment.
Skilled sewing workers were essential to making that design real. Some had worked for Playtex; others came from clothing and luggage factories. Among them was Jean Wilson, who helped sew the suits worn by Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. As a lead seamstress, she worked on sections including the torso, arms, and legs, helping turn flat plans into a form-fitting suit. The Smithsonian’s account of Wilson’s work on the Apollo spacesuits shows how much this achievement depended on the people at the sewing machines.
So the Playtex connection is more than a surprising bit of trivia. Apollo needed rocket scientists, but it also needed people who knew how to make demanding designs fit, flex, and hold together. For another unexpected connection, explore more science facts.