This gas container and restraint suit is part of the Advanced Crew Escape System for the American space shuttle program.
NASA added crew escape systems to the Space Shuttle orbiters after the 1986 Challenger tragedy. In an emergency, crewmembers could open the side hatch, deploy the pole, attach to a lanyard, and slide out along the pole to parachute away from the orbiter. The crew escape system was intended for emergency bailout use only when the orbiter was in controlled gliding flight and unable to reach a runway. It gave the crew an alternative to ditching in water or landing on terrain other than a landing site, neither option being survivable.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration transferred this item to the museum at the end of the shuttle program.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.