Richard Gordon's Apollo-era NASA Flightsuit

Richard Gordon's Apollo-era NASA Flightsuit

Richard 'Dick' Gordon's NASA flightsuit. Apollo astronauts were provided with flightsuits of varying colours, including white, blue and mustard. All of the Apollo astronauts were required to have extensive pilot experience, spending many hours in NASA Northrop T-38 Talon jets. They used a dedicated fleet of T-38s to jet around the country during their intensive training and public relations schedules - requiring many flightsuits, like this one, ready to go at short notice.

Dick Gordon was selected as part of the third group of astronauts announced by NASA in 1963. He flew on Gemini 11 in 1966 under Commander Pete Conrad, spending two days in orbit. He was later selected as the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 12, joining up with Pete Conrad and Alan Bean as they journeyed to the Moon for the second Moon landing. Whilst Conrad and Bean descended to the surface, Gordon orbited high above - spending 38 hours alone in the Command Module.

Flightsuits like this one were a standard issue garment for Apollo astronauts. Gordon's name tag is affixed to the front, but his name is also sewn onto the label inside - presumably due to the likelihood of them being returned to the wrong astronaut after they had been cleaned.