This spacesuit was worn by Wally Schirra during the fifth flight of a U.S. astronaut. The highly successful orbital flight of "Sigma 7" took place on October 3, 1962, and lasted for 9 hours and 13 minutes, during which time he traveled 76,020 miles and orbited the earth six times.
The spacesuit was developed by B.F. Goodrich from the US Navy MK-IV full pressure suit, and selected by NASA in 1959 for use in Project Mercury. It was made of a nylon exterior with an aluminized thermal coating which gave it the famous "silver" color, and an interior rubber bladder. The spacesuit consisted of four basic components, the suit torso, helmet, gloves and boots, and underneath the suit, the astronauts wore a long cotton undergarment.
Transferred to the National Air and Space Museum from NASA in 1975.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.