Lesser-Known Players on the Apollo 11 Team: Eleanor Foraker

Foraker was a senior seamstress who worked under the International Latex Corporation (ILC)—a division of Playtex (yeah, the underwear brand)—hand-sewing the spacesuits worn by the Apollo 11 crew. Neil Armstrong’s suit is pictured here.

Foraker and other seamstresses worked tirelessly on modified Singer machines to sew 21 layers of fabric together to create suits that would keep the astronauts safe in the harsh outer space conditions. Foraker shared that she worked 80-hour weeks with no days off for three consecutive years and had two nervous breakdowns during this time.

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