Remarkable custom-made suborbital ‘NAM’ spacesuit built and designed in 2007-2008 by Nikolay Alexandrovich Moiseev, a spacesuit engineer for 20 years with Zvezda, the organization that manufactured all Soviet/Russian spacesuits from Sputnik to the present. The multicolored suit, which approximately measures 62″ inches from head to toe, features removable gloves, bubble helmet, neck disconnect and torso section, each capable of connection/disconnection via metal rings, latches, or fasteners; palm of each hand bears adjustable loop Velcro strips; the left wrist section features a pressure gauge; the waist a pair of ventilation ports (in and out), with length of tubing fitted to one; and a variety of restraint and adjustment webbings to both torso and leg sections. In fine condition. Representing the evolution and direction of commercial space travel, this uniquely impressive custom-designed spacesuit is the first of its kind to be manufactured by an independent party. This particular NAM suit prototype, made for famous stuntman and skydiver Steve Truglia, is specifically equipped to withstand the immense pressures of a high-altitude balloon jump, and was tested by Truglia in April-May 2008 at the ILC Dover test facility in Dover, Delaware. He presented his plan for the 'Space Jump' project at several conferences.
After spending his last six years with Zvezda as a Lead Designer and Project Manager, Moiseev utilized his experience certifying suits and components for space-flight by personally funding the development of his own intravehicular design. The result was the NAM suit, which was designed to be low cost and lightweight (15-lbs), with the aim of being adopted for ‘suborbital and orbital space tourism, NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS),’ and even ‘space jumps,’ which are extremely high-altitude parachute record attempts. With a maximum operating pressure of 4.3 psi, the NAM suits would keep pilots, crew-members, or tourists alive if the spacecraft lost cabin pressure in space. Two prototypes of the NAM have been made and internationally demonstrated thus far. This suit is featured in the book US Spacesuits by Kenneth S. Thomas and Harold J. McMann, second edition, published by Springer Praxis Books in 2012.
