July 16, 1969. The world waited with bated breath as three men in a rocket hurtled skyward, bound for the moon.
Half a billion people tuned in to watch the grainy black and white images of Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong step out of the Eagle and onto the lunar surface.
Armstrong's first step was a triumph in a complex operation that marked a new era for mankind.
A group of seamstresses in a small town called Frederica in the state of Delaware was among those watching that moment on the moon. Their role in the American space story is unrivaled.
These unassuming women, who started off their careers stitching bras and girdles, had in fact sewn the spacesuits - 21 layers of material all together.
"I had something to do that was great. I did something great in my lifetime. I built the suit that went to the moon," 75-year-old Bert Pilkenton told CNN.
For 42 years, Pilkenton, along with some 80 other young women, individually tailored spacesuits for International Latex Corporation (ILC)Dover, which had been part of the Playtex group in the 1960s. Their intimate knowledge of the human body and skills with synthetic materials and body-hugging shapes meant they triumphed over the hard amour-like spacesuits designed by military contractors and favored by NASA's engineers.
"Lower arm, upper arm, torso, setting zippers, the convolutes. I had a part in all of it. Wherever they needed help. We just helped each other," said Ruth Ratledge who still works at ILC Dover as a seamstress, aged 77, having given up on retirement.
At times, the girls needed to blind stitch the suits, feeling underneath to get the parts to come together, sometimes within a 64th of an inch.
For the astronauts, it was a matter of life or death. Without oxygen and the protective suit, Aldrin and Armstrong would have perished on the moon in less than 30 seconds.
As a result, sewing pins were deliberately rationed. If the spacesuits were X-rayed and had stray pins left in them where the tailors had pinned the material together, they had to start all over again.
For Ellie Foraker, who began her career with Playtex in 1952 sewing baby pants, finding pins in the suits became too much to bear one day when she realized one particular seamstress had a left a pin in the suit.
She said, "I showed her the pin and I said, "You see this? It just came out of that garment that you sewed. So I'm gonna show you what a pin will do" and I stuck her in the butt. And I said, "Do you think you will remember the next time you leave a straight pin in something?" She said, "Yes ma'am"."
Once the astronauts landed safely back on planet earth, the suits went to the Smithsonian National Air andSpaceMuseuminWashingtonwhere they remain today as a testament to the women behind the suits that put man on the moon.
Bert Pilkenton laughed as she let on a secret - "When we built the Apollo suit - the one that is in the Smithsonian Institute - some of us girls names are inside that suit."
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beautiful... if all would work together.
These women are American heroes. Great story.
i think its a good story. i just think that our gov should just give it up and stop the B.S.
We could\'ve done with that iisnght early on.
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Great to see that these american womens gave their everything to make a suit for "their" boys to go to the moon.....
Sad to see that it is now all irrelevant as it would all go to China
Who made the space suits for the shuttle astronauts? Does the tag on their suits say "Made in China"?
I do love the manner in which you have rfmaed this particular situation and it does indeed provide me personally a lot of fodder for thought. However, from everything that I have personally seen, I simply trust when the remarks pack on that individuals stay on issue and don't get started on a soap box of some other news of the day. All the same, thank you for this superb point and even though I can not really concur with the idea in totality, I respect the point of view.
Ahmed. Thank you and your comment and will be takin into consideration. God bless
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There were a lot of people, taking a lot of pride in working for the project. My grandmother worked on the rope which held the parachutes for the capsule.
She gave up on retirement? That's sad. She deserves to be able to retire at 77.
It seems like she just enjoyed working more than sitting around doing nothing. Props to her for continuing to be a productive member of society instead of some worthless couch potato.
I can't believe you'd call a 77-year-old retiree from the garment industry a worthless couch potato. That's pretty callous.
This forum needed shaknig up and you\'ve just done that. Great post!
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Posted on amanizg issues here. I'm very happy to see your post. Thank you so much and im looking forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
Yes, she deserves to retire just as I do! However, Wall Street destroyed those dreams for us (several times now)!
SSI? It doesn't even pay enough for my housing!
Of course, the millionaires on Wall Street just laugh at us. "why were you so stupid to trust us with your 401K?"
Now, we have a candidate for the presidency telling us "If you're not rich, it's your own fault!" "Vote for me!"
With everything which arppaes to be building within this specific subject material, many of your opinions are relatively exciting. Nevertheless, I beg your pardon, because I do not give credence to your whole plan, all be it exhilarating none the less. It would seem to me that your opinions are generally not entirely rationalized and in fact you are yourself not even entirely convinced of the point. In any case I did appreciate reading it.
Junior, Thank you so much for your response. This is what makes our Great Nation so Great! You and I can disagree about the issue but you did not start off by calling names or saying things about my personal that is not true, Thanks again and God Bless
Reminds me of a time when we had good paying jobs here.
Lay it on...................YOUR SO RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No S–t, huh? I think they exported those jobs to China now... maybe India.
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Thanks Bubba. The whole thing about this issue is that you and I are still aloud to write and speak our minds. We still have the Freedom of Speech and as far as them landing on the moon?? There are just to many inconsistency's. God Bless America!!
Yes, we used to have good paying jobs (for men). No woman working everyday on a sewing machine was ever paid well! Did these seamstresses ever get paid a "bonus" for doing a great job? Did they get to make the space suits for our shuttle astronauts? I would not be surprised to see a tag on current space suits that says "made in China"!
Even our iconic jeans maker, Levy, gave up making jeans in the USA! Of course, the Levy factories here where nothing better than "sweat shops" until they closed them down!
Man would not have gone to the Moon without these suits.
These women deserve my sincerest admiration of their work that made such an endeavor possible.
do you believe that man has ever been to the moon? sheesh!
Wow.........women also played a part in WW11 aslo.......but, I needed to mention the SINGER SEWING MACHINE. I still have mine and it was made in the good ole USA.............THE WAY WE HAD PRIDE IN THIS COUNTRY AND THE WAY IT SHOULD BE TODAY. ALSO, I WONDER IF THOSE LADIES GOT PAID MIN WAGE:)?
I believe in getting the whole picture...............because it goes with the rest of the story:)
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"hard amour-like spacesuits?" Shouldn't that be "armor-like?"
apparently it is hard to find true love on the moon.
I bet those women had tears in their eyes when they saw the space suits they constructed on TV as Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history walking on the surface of the Moon. People on this board with the opinion of "big deal" or "so what?" should mention what have they done in their careers that trivializes the historic contribution these wonderful women have made. BTW, finally moving out of your mom's basement and getting your own apartment doesn't count.
Yes, I'm sure they had tears in their eyes! Tears because they did a great job and did not get paid for it! Did anyone give these great women a bonus? Did these women get to make anymore space suits? Who made all the suits for the shuttle program?
Actually, this story has been told. It was told in the film, "From the Earth to the Moon" by Tom Hanks in one of the episode's introductions.
The moon landing was a hoax, we did not have the technology to do a moon landing at that time.
I agree with you. Why? For some reason it is now impossible to go to the moon. All the talk about building a base on the moon for further space exploration has been abandoned. Now we learn, from modern scientific work, that the moon may indeed have water resources. Of course, the "moon rocks" all came from Arizona or New Mexico where some Hollywood studio was contracted to secretly film our landing on the moon! No human has been to the moon! It's all a lie. Sure, we may be able to see junk on the moon with telescopes. Easy to crash junk on the moon as evidence.
Excellent story! The Apollo program employed over 450,000 people across the US, and stories like this are the gems that remind us exactly how we got an amazing thing done. Back then, our drive and spirit overruled the idea that we "didn't have the technology". No, we didn't have it. We MADE it, and combined it with the talent and drive of hundreds of thousands of people. Only then could we accomplish something that otherwise couldn't be done. And to all you "hoaxers" out there...to claim that it was all a lie is to literally slap each one of those people in the face, as well as a slap to your own species in the face, because you're ultimately saying that humans can't achieve amazing things. If that's really the world you think you live in, then I'm sorry for you.
strneoo123 on December 24, 2008 i agree with muriness1 my mother has a 03Spectra..its very realiable and the public is accepting Kia & Hyundai way faster then Toyota & Honda was a long time ago, giving time Kia's reputation will be on par with Toyota's, the Korean comp. resale value are now on par & better then some domestic companies
Ask yourself this. If they truly went to the moon and survived the radiation belt that is between earth and the moon which by the way is a thousand times stronger than the radiation mess on Three Mile Island. Than why doesnt NASA donate Suits to help clean up Three Mile Island or Tronobile. They dont because those suits NEVER LEFT EARTH! And anyone wearing one would be killed from lack of protection from radiation.
Thank you.
For godsakes would you conspiracy nuts please just GO AWAY! The U.S. went to the Moon 9 times and landed six times. End of story. Get over it. Why do you expend energy wasting your time disputing this? 842 pound of moon rocks did not get here by themselves, even though lunar meteors are sometimes found in the Antarctic. Do some research, learn some science and history not tainted by cult or religious leanings. The reason no one has returned to the Moon in nearly 40 years is because politicians want to keep spending money on wars and paying people to do NOTHING. And its hard to get into low Earth orbit at the moment, let alone anywhere else. Do research, learn about this subject and the veil will be lifted from your sad, negative eyes!! Apollo was an anomaly – a reach into the far future that grabbed a hold of that slippery future for a brief time.
Not to mention we're all out of Saturn Vs.
Actually: there are two complete Saturn Vs that could have flown Apollos 18 and 19 – one at the KSC Saturn V visitors center in Florida and another at the Space Center, Houston. In Huntsville, Alabama there is a display vehicle made up of test stages. Various unused Command Modules and Lunar Modules are scattered at various museums throughout America. And now, three Shuttles with plenty of life left in them are to join them. Sad...
LizandClayton on September 4, 2011 I love their wetbise! Love that they do custom orders. I really like the toddler (1-6) hoodie towel. It looks so soft and actually big enough to cover a toddler. I also love the printed blankets! ENTER ME
What exactly is Tronobile?? Ooooh..you mean Chernoybl–I hope I spelled that right–sorry if I didn't. Bottom line is that these ladies did something that is scarce and unknown to todays Americans–they worked as a team, took pride in their work, encouraged each other and worked for the common good of the people and nation. These ladies stood for a time when we actually were proud of our country and didn't bash it every time we had the chance. Heywood sez that they treated life like a refrigerator–they got out of it what they put into it. Huuuuzahhhhh:):)
(I can't believe I'm even entertaining this but here goes)
#1. The Van Allen belts and radiation can be endured by humans for a certain length of time. The Apollo astronauts were not exposed to lethal doses of radiation long enough to cause any serious damage. And even then they were willing to take the risks to their long-term health.
#2. I advise anyone who's skeptical t check out noted astronomer Phil Plait's page which addresses the "hoax" arguments point-by-point: http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html#radiation If you have an argument with any of those points, then your argument is with science and physics, not with NASA.
Are they still perading this around like it happened?
All you should watch the above video. And decide for yourselves.
I am glad some people so readily want to believe the worst in human behavior. Luckily there are those who go through the pains to prove otherwise. http://www.iangoddard.com/moon01.htm
Zoltan Szilberhorn on September 3, 2011 You can't enter usenls you have a valid driver's license. Also you must be older than 21, if you're U.S. resident. However you can ask anyone you trust to enter, just keep in mind: enter with an email-address in which you don't mind spams. Oh and if you win, you'll have to pay taxes too. You can ask anyone you trust to enter cash-prize sweepstakes too.
damn robbiek...sure makes you wonder huh?...and cool name btw.
Why did the narrator refer to these women as "girls?" How condescending.
These workers were not "girls" in 1968, they were and are women.
ah, the good old days when an employee could poke a coworker "in the butt" and no one gets sued
What a great idea with the pizza! I wish they had more wheat-free fbatlreads out there so that I could do the same. Booo Brittany @ Itty Bits of Balance recently posted..
litkomita on August 30, 2011 I like that I am a grateful person. I love being able to show my appreciation to others and count all of my blessings. I dont like taking things for granted, because life is so special and the people you love should feel they are loved.
When are we planning to visit again??? are we running out of these suits or boots ??? hah....Jurks !!!
"Poked in the butt with a needle" translates today as "stabbed by fellow coworker"
Oh and then the stabee would sue, the job would be sent to china and people on cnn boards would say "wow, bet that suit says made in china"
lol thats the truth
Did we go? I don't know for sure. I want to believe. But after 42 years and no moon base or return it makes me skeptical. With new commercial ventures shaping up, we will find out for sure. Oh and the things that were left behind could have easily been put there with unmanned probes.
1969 to 1972 could, but now could not?
Human still have not landed on Moon.
It is a big lie made by President Nixon.
For promoting the morale in the losing Vietnam war.
rickiZEbabe on August 30, 2011 i like how i am quiet poisitsve about myself. i don't go around saying i'm fat' i'm ugly' yes i'm not the prettiest girl and i know what i would like to change about myself, but i still think i am quiet pretty xx
makes good sense to me...
1969 to 1972 could, but now could not?
Now the technology is missing, right?
GOD SHED HIS LIGHT ON THEE
KuBeRkId on October 31, 2011 i palosnery think this give away is going to be the best of all because that 2x2x1 is amazing and im trying to buy on but it would be gr8 to get it from my hero
So all you non believers are basically saying that this country is too stupid to get to the moon, but russia is smart enough to put a dog in space?
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Thanks Wendy for your response but I agree with what you had wrote. They were the first to crash land the luna 2. The reason I feel the way I do is because there are just to many unanswered questions. Let's start with the America Flag? Let's start with thier foot print's? Let's start with thier reflections off the shield of thier helments? Answer these question's Wendy. Make me believe!! God Bless This Great Nation Of Our's!!
AWW SHUCKS! AND I WUZ HOPING TO HEAR BOUT THE PART WHERE THEY WERE BEING OBSERVED BY ALIEN SPACECRAFT ON THE LUNAR SURFACE, AND THEIR RADIO TRANSMISSION TO EARTH WAS JAMMED BY NASA SO NOBODY WOULD KNOW WE WEREN'T THE FIRST ONES ON THE MOON, BUT NOW WE KNOW ANYWAY CUZ HAM RADIO OPERATORS PICKED UP THEIR SIGNALS. OH WELL LOL
how history is made !!
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Thank you so much for your kind words. God Bless America!!
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Werent astronauts just 'doing their job'?
Lol... oh... one of those Capricorn loons, huh? Take your meds. Go to bed.
You're an idiot. The evidence is there, everything the astronauts used was left there, and can be seen with good tellescopes. What's next from you, that the UFO's came and took you for a joyride when they beamed you up from your mom's trailer?
Why is it when someone speaks the truth he is told to shut up?
idiot? im not the one who voted for obama!!
Are you pretending to be trusted?
TourDeSomewhere on December 22, 2009 This car looks so strudy on the outside, but the interior quality is a bit of a let down .But the new 2011 Kia Sorento is even better looks more like a high end crossover with a very luxurious interior can't wait for my sorento to arrive next year!
Because he should first learn the facts before jumping around like a mad cow......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt
And even if he is right: a lot of good things are a result of this initial moon flight, so who cares....
because you dont know the truth and you are an idiot!
Facts?? Well then why don't you get them right before you start making statements that still have not been proven? Dance like a cow??? Wow!! Couldn't you have came up with something more original ?,,lol
DuctapePenguin on January 21, 2011 @courtjester140 check out Google Patent sacreh .there are some interesting one that give u detailed blade design check out US Pat. 7849596 which is a 2 blader
yes ur an idiot
so i'm the idiot? you need to get some meds or seek professional help. the way that you throw the name calling around. one might think that your mother had something to do with the anger you carry,,,lol
and your nothing but a liberal and in 2012 we are going to march you clowns right out of office!!!!!!!!!!!lol
i bet you still suckle with mommy dont ya,,lol
tuhiwndterbines on January 28, 2011 wow. cool design. what does it look like without rotating though? I'm kinda curious how it picks up the wind. Better add a link to this vid at WindTurbines(dot)Net
who care's!!!!!