STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Two hundred fifty years ago, the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence - life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. We are bringing you America In Pursuit, a series exploring culture, history and objects in American life. Here's NPR's Jennifer Ludden.
JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: Whether or not you were alive on July 20, 1969, you've probably seen this moment.
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NEIL ARMSTRONG: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
LUDDEN: Neil Armstrong could step on the moon because of that white suit that kept him alive in space.
CATHLEEN LEWIS: This suit isn't dirty. It's lunar dust. It's deeply embedded. It won't wipe off.
LUDDEN: Curator Cathleen Lewis shows us the suit at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The gold-tinted visor to keep out UV rays. Big, round connectors to pressurize the suit - blue for good air, red for bad.
LEWIS: You got to keep it simple because you don't want anyone to make a mistake.
LUDDEN: The stakes were enormous. The moon shot was part of intense competition between the United States and the Soviet Union.
LEWIS: Who had the most advanced technology, who was demonstrating the path to the better way of life to the rest of the world in what was known as the Cold War.
LUDDEN: There was also competition over who would make the space suits. The unlikely winner? ILC Dover - for International Latex Company.
LEWIS: Probably best known for bras and girdles and rubber gloves.
LUDDEN: That's right - gloves and women's underwear. The stretchy rubber and 21 layers of materials kept oxygen inside and protected against extreme heat, cold and flying space particles. Seamstress Jo Thompson sewed the gloves. She told the Smithsonian's podcast "Sidedoor," it was a lot of pressure.
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JO THOMPSON: There was not a lot of noise. The machines went very slow. We went, like, a stitch at a time.
LUDDEN: When it all finally worked, NASA says 650 million people stopped and watched.
LEWIS: The Cold War was suspended just for that one moment. People were very proud that this is what human beings can do.
LUDDEN: Today curator Lewis says Neil Armstrong's space suit symbolizes a day when the world came together.
Jennifer Ludden, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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