- Year
- n.d.
- By
- Mine Safety Appliances Co., for NASA
- Provenance
- Accompanied by a letter from Guenter F. Wendt, the legendary Pad Leader for NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo launches, dated 28 November 1995 and hand-signed, replying to a query (and a drawing, which Wendt compliments) from an earlier owner of the mask. Wendt writes: “With regard to your gas mask it is a piece of protective equipment that is stored in boxes of ten or twenty units in hundreds of places at the space center, They are used where hypergolic fuels are stored (orbiter & SRB’s) or processed. They are primarily ment [sic] to provide an emergency exit protection. The removal of the tape will open the filtration pass to activate the unit.” The reference to the orbiter and Solid Rocket Boosters places the mask’s described service context in the Space Shuttle program, rather than the Apollo era with which Wendt is most closely associated. The filter canister is not included.
- Section
- Apollo · Models and Artifacts
- Shelf
- Box 6
- Catalog
- Catalog F · NASA Missions
An M26A1 “Mask, Gas, Rocket Propellant,” manufactured by the Mine Safety Appliances Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The green rubber facepiece has a single oval eyepiece secured by a hinged chrome retaining ring stamped “MSA,” and a round side-mounted filter port (the canister itself is not present). The rubber head harness is molded “MINE SAFETY APPLIANCES CO. PITTSBURGH PA. / PULL FRONT STRAP LAST,” alongside a small date-wheel disc marked “2.”
The canvas carrier bag is stenciled in yellow “MASK, GAS, ROCKET PROPELLANT / M26A1 / FOR NASA,” followed by a caution notice to “REMOVE TAPE FROM BOTTOM OPENING OF CANISTER BEFORE USING MASK,” and carries a canvas inventory tag hand-inked “2781.”
