Stuart Woodward reviewed Spacesuit by Nicholas De Monchaux
Review of 'Spacesuit' on 'Goodreads'
This is a book about the road that led to the Playtex bra company making the iconic spacesuit used in the moon landings. I listened to this book and if I ever revisited it, I would read it on the Kindle to take notes.
The story is complicated and disjointed but a big takeaway for me was how the little old ladies who did the sewing ran up against the systems engineering processes of NASA. The process for measuring and sewing the suits was so antithetical to the missile engineering culture that formed the base of NASA that it made me realise what a revolution systems-thinking created from WWII onwards in US business culture.
Also, I had little idea about Kennedy's illness and the role that the image he personally cultivated and played out had in culture. The space program and iconic images from the space program including the space …
This is a book about the road that led to the Playtex bra company making the iconic spacesuit used in the moon landings. I listened to this book and if I ever revisited it, I would read it on the Kindle to take notes.
The story is complicated and disjointed but a big takeaway for me was how the little old ladies who did the sewing ran up against the systems engineering processes of NASA. The process for measuring and sewing the suits was so antithetical to the missile engineering culture that formed the base of NASA that it made me realise what a revolution systems-thinking created from WWII onwards in US business culture.
Also, I had little idea about Kennedy's illness and the role that the image he personally cultivated and played out had in culture. The space program and iconic images from the space program including the space suit were a complimentary part of that.
If you ever wonder why the spacesuits look like sci-fi props then part of it was that the designs were modelled on sci-fi suits of the past. No one really had clue what they should look like.
A book which was quite different to what I expected.
