Artifact: Yuri Malenchenko's flown Sokol KV-2 spacesuit glove
Date of use: July 1, 1994 - November 4, 1994.
Manufacturer: Zvezda.
Dimensions: 11 cm wide (ring) and 25.5 cm total length.
Weight: 286 gr.

Serial number: ГП-7А-11Б-0270415 / ЛEБE 0480130 (ring).

Program: Soyuz.
Flown Status: flown.

Description:
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko wore this left glove as part of his rescue suit during the launch of Soyuz TM-19 on July 1, 1994 enroute to the Mir Space station as a member of the Mir 16 Mission (July 1, 1994 - November 4, 1994).

Identification tags sewn into the wrist sections bear his initials, МЮИ (Маленченко Юрий Иванович/Malenchenko Yuri Ivanovich), with parts numbers above, "ГП-7А-11Б-0270415". Serial numbers "ЛEБE 0480130" etched into the insides of the blue anodized wrist coupling. The glove is comprised of white nylon canvas atop a custom-molded rubber hand that is reinforced with leather in the palm. Between the leather and rubber are metal reinforcement bars that prevent the glove from distending while under pressure. In fine condition, with general wear from use.

Soyuz TM-19:
Soyuz TM-19 was the first mission in 17 years to have a rookie crew without any spaceflight experience. The crew's main objective was to conduct various experiments, including medical studies on the effects of long-term weightlessness, materials science, Earth observation, astrophysics, and biotechnology.

The mission encountered challenges, with the Progress M-24 freighter experiencing difficulties during its automatic docking attempt with the Mir space station. However, cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko demonstrated impressive remote piloting skills and successfully docked the Progress M-24 manually.

During the mission, two spacewalks were performed by cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko and Talgat Musabayev. They inspected and repaired the docking port struck by the Progress M-24 and conducted other assembly and maintenance work outside the space station.

Despite the challenges, the mission concluded successfully with the crew's safe return to Earth.

Malenchenko flew on ten missions: Soyuz TM-19 (Mir EO-16) STS-106, Soyuz TMA-2 (Expedition 7), Soyuz TMA-11 (Expedition 16), Soyuz TMA-05M (Expedition 32/33), and Soyuz TMA-19M (Expedition 46/47). He became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was 240 miles (390 km) over New Zealand, on the International Space Station.

More information:

Space Facts - Mir 16 Mission

Artifact: Apollo A7L spacesuit Checklist and scissors pocket

Size: Checklist pocket: 23x18x7.5 (extended with cover open: 35 cm), Scissors pocket: 7.7x18.4 (extended with cover open 29.1 cm). Straps and pockets, total extension: 62 cm.

Part Numbers: A7L-201047-01 and A7L201049-01. 

Description: Checklist and scissor pockets with metal buckles and part numbers A7L-201047-01 and A7L-201049-01, respectively. This item comes from the collection of Robert (Bob) Dale Helton, who was an aerospace educator that worked on NASA outreach.

The part number for the checklist pocket and the scissors pocket generally refers to the set, with this identifier sometimes present on the strap that connects both pockets.

The last 2 numbers represent the evolutionary model of the same design. Thus, -01 was the first version of a particular article. The metal snap pockets were used extensively during the training of the Apollo Program astronauts. These types of pockets appear in later versions from Apollo 11 to Apollo 14.

Special features: The model that is part of my collection has some rust spots and a red strikethrough on the part number. On one of the straps it is written "Not for O2 use". Probably, as this item was meant to be used for training some parts of it, might not use the same quality materials and therefore beta cloth might not be present in some parts.

The Apollo A7L spacesuit was a versatile system having a base configuration that served for launch, reentry and intra-vehicular activity (IVA) and that, when added accessories for extra-vehicular activity (EVA), also served to walk on the lunar surface.

The pockets with part numbers A7L / 201047/03 and A7L-201049-03 were used in the Apollo 11, 12, 13 and 14 missions.

More information:

Checklist pockets - Space flown artifacts

Item: Apollo beta cloth.
Size: 21 x 29.2 cm (presentation). 2.9 x 3.2 cm. (fragment).

Description: Attached to this presentation is a segment of beta cloth dating from the 1960's as used in NASA's Apollo space program.

Beta cloth, a woven fiberglass fabric, was developed following the Apollo 1 fire. It could protect against temperatures up to 650°C, and was incorporated into the Apollo/Skylab A7L space suits giving astronauts a better chance to escape a launch pad fire. The beta cloth was coated with Teflon to increase durability and prohibit abrasion during use.

The Apollo space suit, produced by ILC, was comprised of three major parts, an inner layer for comfort, a middle pressure garment layer and an ouer layer known as the thermal micrometeroid garment (TMG). The TMG contained multiple layers of aluminized mylar and fabrics to reflect radiation and reduce thermal conductivity. This was encapsulated by the outer most layer which was covered in beta cloth fabric.