This spacesuit was constructed in the early 1960s by the Hamilton Standard Corporation for the United States Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program. The MOL program was an Air Force intelligence-gathering program that was separate from NASA’s planned civilian missions in space. The MOL program never became operational and astronauts who trained for the program became NASA astronauts. When the USAF was developing the program, they cooperated with NASA, sharing hardware and training techniques. USAF commissioned Hamilton Standard to build a spacesuit that would allow their military astronauts to work outside the orbiting space station on a regular basis. This is one of the suits that the company submitted for evaluation and testing. After the program ended, NASA acquired the suit for further testing and evaluation.

The suit was a front-opening, full pressure suit. In order to enter the suit, the astronaut would have to open and lift the neck ring, release the pressure seal around the neck, open the zipper, and climb into the suit through the neck-zipper opening. The suit lacks a coverlayer.

NASA - Manned Spacecraft Center transferred the suit to the Museum in 1973.