Spacesuit Article

A little brief, but cool to see anyway...could do without the fashion tips.

Article Mentioned In The Thread Title

This was interesting...

"Armstrong left his backpack on the moon in order to ensure that the ascent module was well below its weight limit, Lewis said. The pack contained the astronaut’s life support system, which provided a supply of oxygen while also taking carbon dioxide away. "

How did he do that? Hold his breath and throw it out the door?

they connected their suits to Eagle's onboard systems

The one thing they should have brought back that they didn't, and the weight penalty would have been negligible, was Armstrong's (at least) lunar overboots. How great would it be to see that in a museum?

Pretty great indeed! But I guess if your life hinges upon taking off and weight is a variable, future nostalgia takes a back burner!

I'd heard that both Armstrong and Aldrin ditched their backpacks and boots, and that it was part of the plan.

I would be pretty sure that whatever they did, it was part of the plan. The mission was very carefully planned and choreographed. They were pilots and checklisted things down to the smallest details. Of course they did things outside of the plan, but they even planned that.

It was definitely planned.

About the only departure from plans was the EVA, the plan called for Armstrong and Aldrin to sleep after landing and doing the EVA afterwards. Of course they didn't want to sleep and requested the EVA be moved up. Why anyone ever thought they would be able to sleep right after landing is another question.