Liquid-Cooled Garments

Inducted In: 1993, Health, Medicine

NASA Image of Liquid Cooled Garment
Induction year:
Inducted individuals:
Dr. James Barnett Jr.
Dr. John Billingham
Melvin Case
Dr. Alan Chambers
George Durney
William Elkins
Jerry Goodman
Richard Johnson
Joseph Kosmo
James McBarron II
Edward Michel
Sara Moody
Dr. Matthew Radnofsky
Gary Rodne
John Samos
R. Sheets,
Leonard Shepard
Robert Spann
James Walligora
Bruce Webbon
Bill Williams
Inducted organizations:
Hamilton Standard Division
United Technologies Corporation
HED Foundation and Related Disorders
ILC Dover, Inc.
Life Support Systems, Inc.
NASA Ames Research Center
NASA Johnson Space Center
NASA Langley Research Center

The liquid-cooled garment was developed to protect the Apollo astronauts from the high temperatures on the moon. The garment successfully maintained the astronauts – body temperatures at a comfortable level by utilizing a battery-powered mini-pump to circulate chilled water through a network of tubes in the garment. During the 1970s and 80s, several companies – Life Support Systems Inc., ILC Dover Inc., and Enviro-Med – obtained the technology and since then have been manufacturing and marketing cooling garments for commercial and medical uses.

This technology is now found in garments being used by race car drivers, fire department hazardous materials handlers, personnel working at nuclear reactors, lumber and paper mill workers, shipyard workers, and military personnel on duty in desert environments. These garments have been shown effective in eliminating 40 to 60 percent of stored body heat and so reduce the heat stress that might otherwise be experienced in these settings. Children born with Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia (lack of sweat glands) can use the garment to help them dissipate body heat during normal activities that might otherwise raise their body temperatures and cause heat stroke. Other conditions and diseases which can make a person prone to overheating -including multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, severe burns, and some forms of cancer – can also be helped by these cool suits. They have enabled many people to participate in sports and other strenuous activities from which they were previously barred.

Related Technologies

Bubble Detector

Bubble Detector

Inducted In: Featured, Health, Public Safety

Canada’s Bubble Technology Industries (BTI) created the Bubble Detector to detect and record levels of neutron radiation exposure to humans. The detector is a small vial about the size of your thumb. It is small enough and portable enough to…

Apollo 70 Cardiac Care Monitoring System

Apollo 70 Cardiac Care Monitoring System

Inducted In: Featured, Health, Medicine

Founded in 1958, Spacelabs Healthcare approached NASA with their concept of a real-time system for monitoring astronauts’ vital signs while in orbit, including a telemetry system to simultaneously transmit the data back to Earth. From 1962 to 1967, Spacelabs was…

Programmable Implantable Medication System

Programmable Implantable Medication System

Inducted In: Health, Medicine

A family of biomedical implantable devices have been developed over the past decade which are based on a wide array of space technologies, including battery advances, miniaturized circuitry, digital telemetry, and electronic sensing systems. The initial device was the rechargeable…