Flown Apollo 15 A7LB Beta Cloth Pouches

It is near impossible to get flown Apollo spacesuits, unless the parts are detachable. The A7LB space suits debuted on Apollo 15, 50 years ago and were designed for the longer J-missions with Lunar Rover and multiple EVAs.

This came from Apollo 15 Commander Dave Scott’s personal collection. He wore it for launch, lunar landing, and after three days on the moon, lunar ascent and the first cislunar EVA (to retrieve the film canister from the Service Module en route back to Earth). This Beta cloth assembly has two pockets: one made to hold his scissors, the other, made to hold a checklist. He used the scissors to detach it after splashdown, and to open his food packets throughout the mission.

In a letter of provenance, Commander Scott writes: “This checklist pocket and scissors sheath were an essential element of our spacesuits during the entire mission. The assembly was strapped to the leg of my spacesuit during launch and reentry as well as during the lunar landing, and it was available in the Lunar Module during our three days on the moon.

Apollo 15 was the first “J” mission extended scientific exploration of the moon. Using the first Lunar Roving Vehicle, we traveled 27.9 km (17.3 miles) conducting three separate excursions to explore unique geological features in three distinct locations.

This assembly was of particular importance during our return from the Moon to the Earth. During this period the crew performed the first interstellar EVA. Should a strap or hook become entangled during this maneuver, the scissors would be used to cut or release the entanglement.”