007 spacesuit found in storage at NASA

04-Jun-2005 • Bond News

NASA got a reminder of its Cold War origins recently when a probe into a locked storage room at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station unveiled two spacesuits from a canceled spy program -- and one had a "007" name tag, reports Wired News.

The suits were discovered when two security agents came across the locked room during a check of the facility. They used a master key to unlock the door and found, among other things, the two blue spacesuits "complete and in remarkable shape," according to a report posted to NASA's website on Friday.

The space agency said the suits were used to train Air Force astronauts for a 1960's spy program involving an Earth-orbiting space station known as the Manned Orbiting Laboratory. The station never got off the ground and the program was canceled in 1969, according to NASA.

One of the suits bears the number 008 and the name "Lawyer" on the left sleeve. It belonged to Lt. Col. Richard Lawyer, one of the first astronauts recruited to the program in 1965.

The other suit bears the number 007 -- better known to fans of spy fiction as the number assigned to British Secret Service agent James Bond. The suit has no other identifying information.

The NASA report calls the similarity with the world's favorite spy "intriguing," but does not say whether it was intentional. Representatives for the agency were not immediately available to comment on the suit.

Author Ian Fleming published his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1953, more than a decade before the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program got its start.

NASA's plans for the mystery suit are "still being determined," according to the report.

As for Lt. Col. Lawyer's suit, NASA said it was officially transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1983, but somehow ended up in the storage room at Cape Canaveral. The agency will return the suit to the institution.

Another spacesuit from the MOL program and a mockup of the station are on exhibit at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Ohio.

Thanks to `JP` for the alert.