Terry Slezak's White Anti-Static Space Shuttle Ground Crew Coveralls

Terry Slezak's White Anti-Static Space Shuttle Ground Crew Coveralls

Made predominantly from Aramid, a heat-resistant synthetic fibre, this suit was issued for use by ground control crew and other personnel when working near the Space Shuttle. Due to the volatile fuels and gases associated with the Space Shuttle, it was essential for anyone working near it to have clothing that was anti-static and heat resistant to prevent accidentally igniting these flammable gases.

These coveralls belonged to Terry Slezak. Slezak worked for NASA as a photographer within the Photographic Services Division. He worked on many projects over a long NASA career, including designing photographic experiments for use on Space Shuttle flights.

Slezak is perhaps best remembered for something that happened whilst working in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, which was set up to quarantine astronauts and material brought back from the Moon. Slezak oversaw processing the photographic films brought back on Apollo 11, and, whilst extracting a magazine from a camera that had been dropped on the Lunar surface, he discovered it was covered in Moon dust. Slezak therefore became the first person to touch Moon dust whilst on Earth, warranting him a certain amount of fame. A photograph of Slezak holding his Moon dust covered hand up to the glass whilst in quarantine, became an iconic image of the Apollo era.