ILC Dover
Encyclopedia
ILC Dover, LP is an engineering development and manufacturing company based in Frederica, Delaware
. ILC specializes in the use of high-performance flexible materials, serving the aerospace
, personal protection
, and pharmaceutical industries.
Best known for making space suits for NASA
, ILC outfitted every United States astronaut
in the Apollo program, including the twelve that walked on the moon. ILC also designed and manufactured the Space Suit Assembly portion of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit
(EMU), worn by astronauts during performance of extra-vehicular activity
(EVA) on Space Shuttle
missions and on the International Space Station
.
Other ILC products include the airbag landing devices for Mars Pathfinder
and Mars Exploration Rover
(MER) missions; lighter-than-air vehicles, including airship
s, aerostat
s, and zeppelin
s; chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) masks and hood systems; and flexible powder-containment solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.
best known for manufacture of women's undergarments . The International Latex Corporation supported American efforts in World War II with latex products such as attack boats, life rafts, and canteens. In 1947, the International Latex Corporation split into four divisions, one of which, the Metals Division, eventually became ILC Dover.
Located at that time in Dover, Delaware
, ILC's earliest work was on high-altitude pressure helmets and high-altitude pressure suits for the U.S Navy and Air Force. In 1965, ILC (then known as the Government and Industrial Division of the International Latex Corporation) was awarded the prime contract for the Apollo Lunar Space Suit
, based on its unique approach to designing flexible joints in air filled suits. ILC successfully designed and manufactured the suit worn by astronauts in the Apollo program, including Neil Armstrong during the first moonwalk. By 1969, ILC's workforce expanded to 900 employees as it supported the space program through production of Apollo space suits and a sun shield to protect Skylab, the first U.S. space station.
In 1974, the Skylab
program ended, and ILC faced an immediate need to diversify their product offerings. That same year, ILC delivered its first aerostat
to the U.S. Air Force for use at Cudjoe Key Air Force Station. Subsequently, they entered the field of personal protective equipment
, paving the way for development of industrial protection suits, such as the Chemturion Suit line. In later years, their development of protective equipment expanded into type classified military chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) masks and hood systems (for example, the M43, M40, MBU-19/P). The M40/M42 masks
became the standard field mask of the U.S. Army, and, as of 2010, over two million had been produced and sold. Hamilton Standard
, of Windsor Locks, CT was contracted to oversee ILC's suit manufacture due to ILC's inexperience with federal government contracts.
In 1977, ILC Dover, in conjunction with Hamilton Standard
, began development and manufacture of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit
(EMU), the suit worn by astronauts during Space Shuttle
and Space Station
extra-vehicular activity
(EVA). ILC continued its support of the space program, while expanding its personal protection and lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle lines.
In 1994 and 1995, ILC was awarded contracts with the German company Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH and the American Blimp Corporation
for production of envelopes for each company. Over the following decade, ILC's production of LTA vehicles continued, and in 2001, ILC, in colaboration with TCOM and Uretek, developed and manufactured the world's largest pressurized LTA vehicle for CargoLifter
in Brand, Germany.
In 1994, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
contracted ILC to develop and manufacture the airbag landing system for the Mars Pathfinder Mission
, which successfully cushioned Pathfinder's landing on July 4, 1997. In 2003, ILC's airbag system enabled the safe landing of the twin rovers, Spirit
and Opportunity
, during the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Missions
.
In the 1990s ILC entered the pharmaceutical industry with the design and production of flexible containment systems, used to improve operator safety and ensure product purity during the manufacturing processing of potent pharmaceutical agents.
. Throughout Apollo, Skylab
, Space Shuttle
, and Space Station
missions, the space suit has been required to protect astronauts from hazards faced in earth’s orbit and on the surface of the moon. These hazards include the vacuum environment of space, temperature extremes ranging from -250 degrees Fahrenheit to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, the impact of micrometeoroids and orbital debris, and lunar dust. Above the 63,000 foot threshold, spacesuits are needed to supply oxygen and to provide a pressurized environment around the body to keep body fluids in a liquid state.
fire to remove all flammable material from space suits. After a nationwide search, ILC settled on beta cloth
, a fireproof silica fiber cloth. Apollo spacesuits were custom-made for each of the astronauts in the program, and for each of the twelve manned flights carried out, ILC produced fifteen suits. Three suits were made for each of the three astronauts comprising the crew (one suit for flight, one for training, one for back-up) and two suits were made for each of the three back-up crew members (one suit for flight and one for training). Twenty extra-vehicular activities
(EVAs) were performed during the Apollo program, and ten were performed during Skylab
. The Apollo suits were used for a total of 160 hours on the lunar surface.
(EMU), which has two parts: the space suit assembly (SSA), manufactured by ILC, and the life support system
(LSS), manufactured by Hamilton Sundstrand (previously Hamilton Standard). The SSA is made of individual components which are assembled to fit each astronaut. Since the first shuttle EVA in 1983, 216 U.S. astronauts have performed a total of 74 shuttle EVAs, combining for greater than 470 hours in space.
(ISS). The suits for the ISS were modified to provide greater mobility, to afford better tactile capabilities of the glove, and to provide an increased operational life. As of Feb. 2011, a total of 104 EVAs on the ISS had occurred, for greater than 650 total hours in space.
(MKIII) is an experimental suit that was designed by ILC for use on the space station
. The suit is a combination of hard and soft elements, designed for pressurization to 8.3 psi
. Shuttle suits are pressurized to 4.3 psi, and astronauts are required to breathe pure oxygen for several hours prior to EVA to remove all dissolved nitrogen from body fluids (to prevent “the bends
” upon de-pressurization). Pressurization to 8.3 psi would eliminate the need for a lengthy pre-breathing time. The MKIII has since been used in test programs that study space suit operations in the lunar and Mars
surface environments.
is a lightweight experimental suit designed and manufactured by ILC to be used for high-mobility surface operations in gravity, such as on the lunar surface or on the surface of Mars
. The I-suit is also being studied for use with next generation NASA launch vehicles and commercial space vehicles.
s, airship
s, blimp
s, and other lighter-than-air
(LTA) structures. ILC is the world’s largest producer of modern aerostat and airship envelopes.
(HAA) programs to define the system for a mobile platform capable of carrying various payloads, including communications and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) sensors.
s, masks, and suits used to protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats. The products are used by U.S. military troops, federal employees, scientists and health care workers.
. They also produce an air purifying escape respirator (APER), the SCape CBRN, and the M40/42 gas mask
used by the U.S. military.
From the technology used in production of the DPE, ILC developed a protective suit to be used for commercial applications. The Chemturion is a multi-use, totally encapsulating protective suit, currently used by Public Health Canada, Boston University, USAMRIID and AI Signal Research, the Atlanta Center for Disease Control, and many industrial companies such as DuPont, Dow, and Georgia Pacific.
.
ILC designs and manufactures inflatable structures for use in earth orbit, lunar
, and planetary exploration
. Inflatable structures have been used on a number of space missions for a variety of applications including specialized flexible containment covers (Hubble Space Telescope
), impact attenuation
airbag systems, and inflatable aerodynamic decelerators.
s, and shelters for use in earth orbit and lunar
/ planetary exploration
. Lunar habitat projects
include the X-Hab Lunar Habitat, the InFlex Lunar Habitat, the Toroidal Lunar Habitat, and the Expandable Lunar Habitat. ILC has also worked on the Antarctic Habitat Planetary Analog Study, the Lawrence Livermore Inflatable Space Station, and the Minimum Function Habitat.
For decades, ILC has worked on the design and manufacture of inflatable airbag systems. ILC’s most notable accomplishments are the Mars Pathfinder
and Mars Exploration Rover
(MER) airbags which helped land the Sojourner
, Spirit
& Opportunity
rovers on the surface of Mars
. In addition to planetary landing systems, ILC has designed and fabricated airbag landing systems to safely return manned and unmanned space systems to the surface of earth. This includes airbags for the Crew Exploration Vehicle Orion, and the Advanced Launch System.
s and decelerators; inflatable and deployable antenna
s; sunshields, solar sail
s and solar arrays; radiation
shields; decoys; and planetary balloons.
s and decelerators; floats; munition dispensing systems; UAV
wings; radome
s; and shelters.
Frederica, Delaware
Frederica is a town in Kent County, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 774 at the 2010 census...
. ILC specializes in the use of high-performance flexible materials, serving the aerospace
Aerospace manufacturer
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft....
, personal protection
Personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garment or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury by blunt impacts, electrical hazards, heat, chemicals, and infection, for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, and in...
, and pharmaceutical industries.
Best known for making space suits for NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, ILC outfitted every United States astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
in the Apollo program, including the twelve that walked on the moon. ILC also designed and manufactured the Space Suit Assembly portion of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Extravehicular Mobility Unit
The Space Shuttle/International Space Station Extravehicular Mobility Unit is an independent anthropomorphic system that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for a Space Shuttle or International Space Station crew member to perform extra-vehicular activity...
(EMU), worn by astronauts during performance of extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-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) on Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
missions and on the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
.
Other ILC products include the airbag landing devices for Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...
and Mars Exploration Rover
Mars Exploration Rover
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars...
(MER) missions; lighter-than-air vehicles, including airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s, aerostat
Aerostat
An aerostat is a craft that remains aloft primarily through the use of buoyant lighter than air gases, which impart lift to a vehicle with nearly the same overall density as air. Aerostats include free balloons, airships, and moored balloons...
s, and zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
s; chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) masks and hood systems; and flexible powder-containment solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.
History
ILC Dover initially formed as a branch of the International Latex Corporation, the company founded in 1932 by Abram Spanel and later known as PlaytexPlaytex
Playtex and PlayTex are a brand and trademark. It used to be associated with bras and women's undergarments. Currently there are two separate companies with the Playtex name....
best known for manufacture of women's undergarments . The International Latex Corporation supported American efforts in World War II with latex products such as attack boats, life rafts, and canteens. In 1947, the International Latex Corporation split into four divisions, one of which, the Metals Division, eventually became ILC Dover.
Located at that time in Dover, Delaware
Dover, Delaware
The 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...
, ILC's earliest work was on high-altitude pressure helmets and high-altitude pressure suits for the U.S Navy and Air Force. In 1965, ILC (then known as the Government and Industrial Division of the International Latex Corporation) was awarded the prime contract for the Apollo Lunar Space Suit
Apollo/Skylab A7L
The A7L Apollo & Skylab spacesuit is the primary pressure suit worn by NASA astronauts for Project Apollo, the three manned Skylab flights, and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project between 1968 and the termination of the Apollo program in 1975. The "A7L" designation is used by NASA as the seventh Apollo...
, based on its unique approach to designing flexible joints in air filled suits. ILC successfully designed and manufactured the suit worn by astronauts in the Apollo program, including Neil Armstrong during the first moonwalk. By 1969, ILC's workforce expanded to 900 employees as it supported the space program through production of Apollo space suits and a sun shield to protect Skylab, the first U.S. space station.
Skylab
Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a mass of...
program ended, and ILC faced an immediate need to diversify their product offerings. That same year, ILC delivered its first aerostat
Aerostat
An aerostat is a craft that remains aloft primarily through the use of buoyant lighter than air gases, which impart lift to a vehicle with nearly the same overall density as air. Aerostats include free balloons, airships, and moored balloons...
to the U.S. Air Force for use at Cudjoe Key Air Force Station. Subsequently, they entered the field of personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garment or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury by blunt impacts, electrical hazards, heat, chemicals, and infection, for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, and in...
, paving the way for development of industrial protection suits, such as the Chemturion Suit line. In later years, their development of protective equipment expanded into type classified military chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) masks and hood systems (for example, the M43, M40, MBU-19/P). The M40/M42 masks
M40 Field Protective Mask
The M40 Field Protective Mask is one of various gas masks used by the military of the United States and its allies to protect from field concentrations of chemical and biological agents, along with radiological fallout particles...
became the standard field mask of the U.S. Army, and, as of 2010, over two million had been produced and sold. Hamilton Standard
Hamilton Standard
Hamilton Standard, an aircraft propeller parts supplier, was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller Corporation. Other members of the corporation included Boeing,...
, of Windsor Locks, CT was contracted to oversee ILC's suit manufacture due to ILC's inexperience with federal government contracts.
In 1977, ILC Dover, in conjunction with Hamilton Standard
Hamilton Standard
Hamilton Standard, an aircraft propeller parts supplier, was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller Corporation. Other members of the corporation included Boeing,...
, began development and manufacture of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Extravehicular Mobility Unit
The Space Shuttle/International Space Station Extravehicular Mobility Unit is an independent anthropomorphic system that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for a Space Shuttle or International Space Station crew member to perform extra-vehicular activity...
(EMU), the suit worn by astronauts during Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
and Space Station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-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). ILC continued its support of the space program, while expanding its personal protection and lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle lines.
In 1994 and 1995, ILC was awarded contracts with the German company Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH and the American Blimp Corporation
American Blimp Corporation
-External links:** of ABC's Lightship Group subsidiary...
for production of envelopes for each company. Over the following decade, ILC's production of LTA vehicles continued, and in 2001, ILC, in colaboration with TCOM and Uretek, developed and manufactured the world's largest pressurized LTA vehicle for CargoLifter
Cargolifter
Cargolifter AG was a company created to offer logistical services through point-to point transport of heavy and outsized loads. This service was based on the development of a heavy lift airship, the CL160, a 550,000 m3 vessel designed to carry a 160-tonne payload. Today the shareholder-founded CL...
in Brand, Germany.
In 1994, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
contracted ILC to develop and manufacture the airbag landing system for the Mars Pathfinder Mission
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...
, which successfully cushioned Pathfinder's landing on July 4, 1997. In 2003, ILC's airbag system enabled the safe landing of the twin rovers, Spirit
Spirit rover
Spirit, MER-A , is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity , landed on the other side of the planet...
and Opportunity
Opportunity rover
Opportunity, MER-B , is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. It is the remaining rover in NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission...
, during the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Missions
Mars Exploration Rover
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars...
.
In the 1990s ILC entered the pharmaceutical industry with the design and production of flexible containment systems, used to improve operator safety and ensure product purity during the manufacturing processing of potent pharmaceutical agents.
Space suits
Since the beginning of the Apollo Program, ILC has been the designer and producer of the space suit pressure garment for NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
. Throughout Apollo, Skylab
Skylab
Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a mass of...
, Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
, and Space Station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
missions, the space suit has been required to protect astronauts from hazards faced in earth’s orbit and on the surface of the moon. These hazards include the vacuum environment of space, temperature extremes ranging from -250 degrees Fahrenheit to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, the impact of micrometeoroids and orbital debris, and lunar dust. Above the 63,000 foot threshold, spacesuits are needed to supply oxygen and to provide a pressurized environment around the body to keep body fluids in a liquid state.
Apollo and Skylab
ILC began delivering spacesuits for the Apollo program in 1966. Initial deliveries of suits did not perform well in tests and NASA initially cancelled its contract with ILC and Hamilton Standard. NASA relaunched the program to develop a spacesuit for the Apollo program experimenting at first with hard suits. ILC and Hamilton Standard submitted competing designs this time with ILC winning the sole contract based on its flexible, close-fitting design which featured water cooled undergarment, a blue inner pressurized layer, and covered in an white nylon layer to protect the suits from rocks. Hamilton received a separate contract for the life support backpack unit. ILC was further challenged after the Apollo 1Apollo 1
Apollo 1 was scheduled to be the first manned mission of the Apollo manned lunar landing program, with a target launch date of February 21, 1967. A cabin fire during a launch pad test on January 27 at Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral killed all three crew members: Command Pilot Virgil "Gus"...
fire to remove all flammable material from space suits. After a nationwide search, ILC settled on beta cloth
Beta cloth
Beta cloth is a type of fireproof silica fiber cloth used in the manufacture of Apollo/Skylab A7L space suits and in other specialized applications....
, a fireproof silica fiber cloth. Apollo spacesuits were custom-made for each of the astronauts in the program, and for each of the twelve manned flights carried out, ILC produced fifteen suits. Three suits were made for each of the three astronauts comprising the crew (one suit for flight, one for training, one for back-up) and two suits were made for each of the three back-up crew members (one suit for flight and one for training). Twenty extra-vehicular activities
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-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...
(EVAs) were performed during the Apollo program, and ten were performed during Skylab
Skylab
Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a mass of...
. The Apollo suits were used for a total of 160 hours on the lunar surface.
Shuttle
The space suit used for EVA during shuttle missions is the Extravehicular Mobility UnitExtravehicular Mobility Unit
The Space Shuttle/International Space Station Extravehicular Mobility Unit is an independent anthropomorphic system that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for a Space Shuttle or International Space Station crew member to perform extra-vehicular activity...
(EMU), which has two parts: the space suit assembly (SSA), manufactured by ILC, and the life support system
Primary Life Support System
A Primary Life Support System , is a device connected to an astronaut's or cosmonaut's spacesuit, which allows extra-vehicular activity with maximum freedom, independent of a spacecraft's life support system. The PLSS is generally worn like a backpack...
(LSS), manufactured by Hamilton Sundstrand (previously Hamilton Standard). The SSA is made of individual components which are assembled to fit each astronaut. Since the first shuttle EVA in 1983, 216 U.S. astronauts have performed a total of 74 shuttle EVAs, combining for greater than 470 hours in space.
International Space Station
The shuttle EMU was improved for use on the International Space StationInternational Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS). The suits for the ISS were modified to provide greater mobility, to afford better tactile capabilities of the glove, and to provide an increased operational life. As of Feb. 2011, a total of 104 EVAs on the ISS had occurred, for greater than 650 total hours in space.
Mark III
The Mark IIIMark III (space suit)
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...
(MKIII) is an experimental suit that was designed by ILC for use on the space station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
. The suit is a combination of hard and soft elements, designed for pressurization to 8.3 psi
Pounds per square inch
The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...
. Shuttle suits are pressurized to 4.3 psi, and astronauts are required to breathe pure oxygen for several hours prior to EVA to remove all dissolved nitrogen from body fluids (to prevent “the bends
Decompression sickness
Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...
” upon de-pressurization). Pressurization to 8.3 psi would eliminate the need for a lengthy pre-breathing time. The MKIII has since been used in test programs that study space suit operations in the lunar and Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
surface environments.
Lunar and Mars suit prototype (I Suit)
The I-SuitI-Suit
The 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....
is a lightweight experimental suit designed and manufactured by ILC to be used for high-mobility surface operations in gravity, such as on the lunar surface or on the surface of Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. The I-suit is also being studied for use with next generation NASA launch vehicles and commercial space vehicles.
Lighter than air structures
Since the early 1970s, ILC has been designing and manufacturing softgoods structures for aerostatAerostat
An aerostat is a craft that remains aloft primarily through the use of buoyant lighter than air gases, which impart lift to a vehicle with nearly the same overall density as air. Aerostats include free balloons, airships, and moored balloons...
s, airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s, blimp
Blimp
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating 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...
s, and other lighter-than-air
Lighter than air
Lighter than air refers to gases that are buoyant in air because they have densities lower than that of air .Some of these gases are used as lifting gases in lighter-than-air aircraft, which include free balloons, moored balloons, and airships, to make the whole craft, on average, lighter than air...
(LTA) structures. ILC is the world’s largest producer of modern aerostat and airship envelopes.
Airships and blimps
Airships and blimps are used for a variety of applications including transport and tourism; advertising; and surveillance. ILC’s airship products are used by the U.S. military, the American Blimp Corporation, and Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH (Germany).High altitude airships
Since the early 1980s, ILC has been involved in the design and development of high altitude airships. The advent and growth of the cellular phone market renewed interest in the use of high altitude airships as an economical alternative to satellites. In the past decade, ILC has worked with Lockheed Martin to support several US government-funded high-altitude airshipHigh-altitude airship
The United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency contracted Lockheed Martin to construct a high-altitude airship to enhance its Ballistic Missile Defense System ....
(HAA) programs to define the system for a mobile platform capable of carrying various payloads, including communications and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) sensors.
Tethered aerostats
Aerostats are typically utilized as platforms to carry surveillance radars to altitudes reaching 15,000 feet while tethered to the ground by a single tether. ILC has manufactured aerostats with volumes ranging from 56,000 to 595,000 cubic feet. The length of these aerostats ranges from 109 feet to 240 feet.Heavy lift airships and balloons
The lift generated by a helium filled LTA vehicle can allow heavy loads to be transported in an economical manner. In the early 1990s, ILC was involved in the design and manufacture of logging balloons, devices used in the northwestern U.S. and western Canada for the purpose of retrieving logs from mountainous areas inaccessible by road.Personal protective equipment
Since the mid-1970s, ILC has designed and produced products for chemical and biological protection. Currently, ILC designs and produces respiratorRespirator
A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling harmful dusts, fumes, vapors, or gases. Respirators come in a wide range of types and sizes used by the military, private industry, and the public...
s, masks, and suits used to protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats. The products are used by U.S. military troops, federal employees, scientists and health care workers.
Masks and respirators
ILC produces powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs) including the Sentinel XL CBRN PAPR, used to protect against CBRN threats, and the Sentinel HP PAPR, used to protect against infectious diseaseInfectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
. They also produce an air purifying escape respirator (APER), the SCape CBRN, and the M40/42 gas mask
M40 Field Protective Mask
The M40 Field Protective Mask is one of various gas masks used by the military of the United States and its allies to protect from field concentrations of chemical and biological agents, along with radiological fallout particles...
used by the U.S. military.
Protective suits
In the late 1970s, ILC developed a special garment, the Demilitarization Protective Ensemble (DPE), to fulfill the U.S. Army’s need for an off-the-shelf, positive pressure, totally encapsulating suit for use by maintenance personnel at a chemical weapons site. The DPE was delivered to the Army in 1979 and is still currently in daily use, with over 700 recorded entries into a “hot” environment and a perfect safety record.From the technology used in production of the DPE, ILC developed a protective suit to be used for commercial applications. The Chemturion is a multi-use, totally encapsulating protective suit, currently used by Public Health Canada, Boston University, USAMRIID and AI Signal Research, the Atlanta Center for Disease Control, and many industrial companies such as DuPont, Dow, and Georgia Pacific.
Flexible pharmaceutical containment systems
ILC designs and manufactures products that allow for flexible containment of potent pharmaceutical agents during the pharmaceutical drug manufacturing process. Such containment systems enable the safe and effective processing of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Flexible enclosure systems or specific products, such as the DoverPac, G2Pac and Continuous Liner, can be incorporated into various procedures in the manufacturing process to provide containment of potent pharmaceutical agents, protecting workers from harmful exposure and ensuring purity of the pharmaceutical agents by preventing contaminationContamination
Contamination is the presence of a minor and unwanted constituent in material, physical body, natural environment, at a workplace, etc.-Specifics:"Contamination" also has more specific meanings in science:...
.
Space inflatables
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, and planetary exploration
Timeline of solar system exploration
This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordered by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:*All spacecraft that have left Earth orbit for the purposes of Solar System exploration , including lunar probes....
. Inflatable structures have been used on a number of space missions for a variety of applications including specialized flexible containment covers (Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
), impact attenuation
Impact attenuator
An impact attenuator, also known as a crash cushion or crash attenuator or cowboy cushions, is a device intended to reduce the damage done to structures, vehicles, and motorists resulting from a motor vehicle collision...
airbag systems, and inflatable aerodynamic decelerators.
Habitats and shelters
ILC has developed and manufactured a variety of inflatable habitats, airlockAirlock
An airlock is a device which permits the passage of people and objects between a pressure vessel and its surroundings while minimizing the change of pressure in the vessel and loss of air from it...
s, and shelters for use in earth orbit and lunar
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
/ planetary exploration
Timeline of solar system exploration
This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordered by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:*All spacecraft that have left Earth orbit for the purposes of Solar System exploration , including lunar probes....
. Lunar habitat projects
Inflatable space habitat
Inflatable habitats or expandable habitats are pressurized structures capable of supporting life in outer space whose internal volume increases after launch...
include the X-Hab Lunar Habitat, the InFlex Lunar Habitat, the Toroidal Lunar Habitat, and the Expandable Lunar Habitat. ILC has also worked on the Antarctic Habitat Planetary Analog Study, the Lawrence Livermore Inflatable Space Station, and the Minimum Function Habitat.
Impact bags
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...
and Mars Exploration Rover
Mars Exploration Rover
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars...
(MER) airbags which helped land the Sojourner
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...
, Spirit
Spirit rover
Spirit, MER-A , is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity , landed on the other side of the planet...
& Opportunity
Opportunity rover
Opportunity, MER-B , is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. It is the remaining rover in NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission...
rovers on the surface of Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. In addition to planetary landing systems, ILC has designed and fabricated airbag landing systems to safely return manned and unmanned space systems to the surface of earth. This includes airbags for the Crew Exploration Vehicle Orion, and the Advanced Launch System.
Other
Other inflatable products with space applications include balluteBallute
A ballute was invented by Goodyear in 1958. It is a parachute braking device that is optimized for use at high altitudes and high supersonic velocities. The original ballute was a cone-shaped balloon with a toroidal burble fence fitted around its widest point...
s and decelerators; inflatable and deployable antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
s; sunshields, solar sail
Solar sail
Solar sails are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser to push enormous ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds....
s and solar arrays; radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
shields; decoys; and planetary balloons.
Engineered inflatables
ILC has produced numerous inflatable structures for military and aerospace applications. Inflatable structures are those made from high-performance flexible materials, often providing weight, size, and economic advantages over structures made from traditional metal or composite materials. Products include balluteBallute
A ballute was invented by Goodyear in 1958. It is a parachute braking device that is optimized for use at high altitudes and high supersonic velocities. The original ballute was a cone-shaped balloon with a toroidal burble fence fitted around its widest point...
s and decelerators; floats; munition dispensing systems; UAV
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
wings; radome
Radome
A radome is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a microwave or radar antenna. The radome is constructed of material that minimally attenuates the electromagnetic signal transmitted or received by the antenna. In other words, the radome is transparent to radar or radio waves...
s; and shelters.