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The NASA PDF Space Suit which contains CSM21 Spacesuits pp 223-228 in the url name mentions beta cloth and beta marquisette several times.

Question: What are they exactly?

INTEGRATED THERMAL METEOROID GARMENT

The integrated thermal meteoroid garment is a many-layered structure laced to the torso limb suit. It is composed of an inner and outer shell of Beta cloth, seven layers of aluminized Kapton film separated by six layers of Beta Marquisette, and a liner of two layers of Neoprene-coated nylon Ripstop. A layer of Chromei-R (a woven metal) is added to the knee, elbow, and shoulders to protect the suit against abrasion. Chromei-R also is used to protect the garment's boot from abrasion. The boot is attached to the space suit boot by loop tape.

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LUNAR OVERSHOE

This fits over both the thermal meteoroid garment boot and the suit boot and is used for extravehicular activity. It consists of an insulation and liner, and an outer shell. The liner is Teflon-coated Beta cloth and the insulation is 13 layers of aluminized Kapton film separated by 12 layers of Beta Marquisette. The sole portion contains two additional layers of Beta felt interspaced between the uppermost film and spacer layers. The outer shell features a silicone rubber sole sewn to a laminated structure made up of four layers of two-ply Beta Marquisette. Chromei-R is used as the outer layer of the shell, except for the tongue, which is Teflon coated Beta cloth.

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    $\begingroup$ Chromel? They made it out of thermocouplium? Why not stainless? $\endgroup$
    – ikrase
    Commented Apr 15, 2020 at 1:32
  • $\begingroup$ @ikrase sounds like a new question? $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Apr 15, 2020 at 13:37

1 Answer 1

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Beta cloth consists of fine woven silica fiber, similar to fiberglass. The resulting fabric does not burn, and melts only at temperatures exceeding 650 °C (1,200 °F). To reduce its tendency to crease or tear when manipulated, and to increase durability, the fibers are coated with Teflon.

Wikipedia

Beta Marquisette: nonwoven Teflon coated textile used as thermal insulation and a flame-resistant spacer between spacesuit layers developed by the Owens Corning Fiberglass Company under contract to NASA.

Extreme Textiles

Note that the definition of Marquisette is a sheer meshed fabric

Apollo Applications of Beta Fiber Glass (a paper in CONFERENCE ON MATERIALS FOR IMPROVED FIRE SAFETY)is an excellent writeup with lots of details.

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