A bra company designed the first space suit for the landing on the moon. The International Latex Corporation originally sold rubber diaper covers, swim caps and swimwear. Then they moved to Latex girdles, bras and other intimate apparel. They were the first company to advertise bras on TV and the first to use live models wearing only bras.

Back to the suit, during WWII there was a rubber shortage, so the owner of ILC appointed his TV repairman to head the industrial division to develop items for the war effort in an attempt to get government contracts.

In the early 60s, NASA put out a bid for a space suit. The suit had to endure extreme temperatures both highs and lows, not tear by dust particles moving 13 times faster than a bullet, and the user had to be able to see his feet and move about.

ILC designed the best suit but the contract was awarded to a more reputable company with the directive from NASA that they were to work with ILC. It was a three year disaster. So NASA started over and invited two companies, not ILC, to compete their suits in a variety of tasks. ILC heard about it and demanded that they get to participate.

They had six weeks to develop a suit. They hired seamstresses, which the other companies did not do, to help them develop a better suit. In the competition, despite a broken zipper, they clearly won. One of the other companies suit couldn’t enter the spacecraft when inflated. And the other companies helmet flew off during pressurization. ILC was officially awarded the contract.

The suit had 21 layers of material, and one of those materials was developed specifically for the suit. Beta cloth made of Teflon-coated microfiber was developed to withstand 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. The company developed joints called convolutes and steel air craft cables were used to absorb tension and maintain shape.